Spirit of Secret
by ZombiesAteMyBrain13
Summary: While taking down her Christmas lights, she is approached by a neighborhood kid who offers to help. As he helps her, he tells her about the ghost that haunts his house. What's odd is that she's noticed the same things happening around her house as well. She soon begins to investigate everything and try and figure out why he's there and what he wants.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note : I know Christmas is passed, but she's taking down her Christmas lights. I'm not really sure how long this story is going to be, but I guess I'll figure that out when I write the chapters. I've also been noticing that people have been giving me such nice feedback on my Jerza stories and I really appreciate that so much. I hope those nice reviews continue with my Gruvia stories. Thanks everyone, and enjoy :)

* * *

Now that the holiday had passed, Juvia needed to remove the Christmas decorations from outside her house. She had taken her tree down yesterday, and since it was now a little warmer out and a lot of the snow had melted away, she decided that today was the best time. She placed her freshly made cup of hot chocolate down on the coffee table by her couch, threw on a jacket and her boots then went outside to complete the task at hand.

"Juvia will start with the decorations on the ground, then get the lights on the roof," she said to herself. She walked to the back of her house to a small shed, then came back with a box where she kept everything when it wasn't being used. One by one the decorations came down; first the wreath, then the candy canes in her garden, then the plastic snowman. Then there was nothing left but the lights. Oh how she dreaded them. She wanted to have Gajeel come over and take them down - since he had put up the damn things in the first place - but then she remembered that he was still on holiday with his girlfriend Levy. She sighed, grabbed the now full box and walked it back to her shed. Moments later, she returned with a ladder to assist her in getting down the lights.

"Hello there Juvia," chimed a boys voice. Juvia looked away from the ladder she was positioning against her house to notice Romeo, her neighbor's son, "do you want some help?"

"Oh sure Romeo-kun. That's very nice of you," she responded to him. She stepped aside, allowing him to make his way up the ladder. She held it very still so he wouldn't fall and hurt himself.

"How was your holiday Juvia?"

"Oh it was fine. Juvia spent it with a few friends which was fun. How was your holiday Romeo?"

"It was awesome! Dad got me a 4-wheeler! However," his voice trailed off slightly, "I'm pretty sure there's a ghost in our house. In the middle of the night my X-box turns itself on, and so does my T.V. It's so freaky and I've tried telling dad but he doesn't believe me."

"Really?"

He nodded, "he thinks that it's all in my head. Last night though after I turned off my T.V. and X-box I saw the ghost walking down the stairs, it's a teenager, and before the disappeared he turned to face me. He seemed lost or something and I really want to help but I don't know how."

How odd, Juvia thought to herself as she listened to the young boy speak to her.

"He looked like he's your age, maybe a bit older but I'm really not too sure."

_Funny. Juvia has been hearing things late at night_, "can Juvia tell you something Romeo-kun?"

He got down off the ladder and handed her the strand of lights while he took the ladder in his hands and followed her back to the shed to put everything away, "sure."

"Juvia hears things at night in her attic, very late at night too, like footsteps and such. One time Juvia thought she heard glass breaking but Juvia wasn't sure."

"Maybe you have a ghost in your house too?!"

Juvia placed the lights in her Christmas box, then took the ladder from the boy and hung it back up on the wall where it belonged, "maybe Romeo-kun," she let her voice trail off into a whisper before she spoke loudly again for him to hear, "how about a cup of hot chocolate?"

"Sure Juvia! Thank you!"

"Oh no no, thank you. Without your help I would still probably be trying to take down the lights."

"It's no problem at all, I was glad I was of some help."

The boy followed his neighbor into her house for his hot chocolate. They both kicked off their shoes and removed their coat, hanging them up on the coat rack by the door. Romeo sat on the couch while Juvia grabbed her now cold cup, and then walked into the kitchen.

* * *

Romeo had finished his cup of hot chocolate and was now having a conversation with Juvia about her little ghost problem. That had been the only thing the two had spoken about ever since the boy mentioned the ghost in his house. Now Juvia really wanted to know if there really was a ghost up in her attic, and why they were there to begin with.

"Thanks again for the hot chocolate Juvia," Romeo said as he stood up, "I should probably get home though so dad doesn't start to worry. If I see the ghost again I'll be sure to let you know." He put his coat on and opened the door. He didn't leave yet, for he was waiting for her response.

"Okay Romeo-kun, have a safe walk home," she responded to him as she waved to him as he walked out the door with a small wave. The second the door shut Juvia heard a thump coming from her attic. _Thump, thump, thump. _It sounded as if someone was walking around up there. Slowly, Juvia stood up and approached the steps that led up the second floor of her house. Whatever was up there sounded very angry and it made her quite terrified to even consider going into the attic; it hadn't been touched since she moved into her house five years ago! Slowly, she approached the little crawl space door at the end of the hall and took a deep breath.

"GO AWAY!" Whatever was in there was pissed off and it was definitely a ghost, a male ghost.

"Wh-why? Are you upset?" Juvia asked from her side of the door.

She heard nothing in response, no moving around, nothing at all. Taking one last deep breath, she opened the door and walked into the small space and made her way up the stairs. When she reached the attic she saw a young male figure sitting down on an old chair, and it looked as if he was smoking a cigarette. Could ghosts smoke? However he didn't look like Juvia expected. Although he was a ghost, he actually looked like he was still living and breathing. His hair was raven black, and his eyes were dark blue pools that could pierce into your soul. He was attractive to say the least.

"You wouldn't understand," he sighed as he looked at her then looked down and then back at his feet.

"Juvia would like to understand. Please, explain to Juvia why you're here."

He sighed and stood up. He looked at her before he walked forward, "fine, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything. First off, my name is Gray Fullbuster, and I can't cross over to the other side..."

* * *

Author's note: OH! I know, I'm a horrible human being for cutting it off right there but I had to make it be suspenseful of some sort. I mean really, it'll make you guys some back for more if I cut it off here, ya know what I mean? Anyway, let me know what you all think about this. I'm personally very happy with it, but your reviews mean the world to me.


	2. Chapter 2

_Couldn't pass on? What's that mean? Is it code for something?_ So many questions raced through Juvia's head as she studied the ghost before her, "Juvia wishes to understand why." Her voice was soft. The silence between them was growing awkward.

He sighed, "I was murdered you see. Ten, almost eleven I think, years ago this use to be a baseball field where myself and a few friends would come after school," he looked down with a sad gleam in his eyes, "it was raining when myself and a friend were killed. We brought bats to a gunfight I guess you could say."

"But Juvia doesn't understand. Why you can't pass on?"

"The killer was never found. A reason for the murders is unknown. I simply want answers so I can pass on peacefully. I refuse to pass on to the afterlife until I have answers to every single one of my questions."

He looked like he was going to break down which made Juvia feel bad. She only wanted to know why he was still here, not make him upset.

"Juvia apologizes if she upset you Gray-sama," she said as she approached him slowly. He gave her a quick glance before he averted his eyes back to the floor and his feet, "did Juvia upset you?"

He shook his head slowly, "nah. It's just a difficult thing for me to talk about actually. I've been stuck here for ten painfully long years looking for answers that the police department and the courts couldn't figure out," he looked at her once more, for a longer amount of time now, "the person who murdered my friend and I still haven't been caught since the only two people who saw parts of that bastard's face are now dead. It's a scary thought knowing that a killer is still out there somewhere, knowing they got away with the murder of two teenage boys."

Now Juvia was the one that felt sad. She so badly wanted to help but what could she do? Probably nothing now. What did Gray ever do that made someone want to kill him? There were a lot of questions that she wanted to ask but she simply held them back, she just kept her mouth shut.

"You know the house next to yours?" Gray asked softly, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Juvia responded just as softly.

"My friend Lyon is there."

_So that's the ghost Romeo-kun has seen..._ It was sad, yes, but now Juvia had some answers. She didn't really know how to respond to Gray, so she didn't.

"He knows your friend, the Conbolt boy."

"Romeo-kun mentioned him to Juvia," she responded.

"Lyon and I still go out back and hit a few balls when we can. Ever since they built houses here we don't have a lot of room but we manage."

She smiled softly. Although everything she had just heard was killing her inside, what he had just said made that smile she was showing appear. She was about to speak but the buzzing of her phone in her pocket caught her off guard, "pardon Juvia for a moment." He gave her a small nod and she walked down the attic steps to answer her phone, "hello?"

"Hey Juvia, it's Lucy," spoke the girl, Lucy, on the other end, "I'm using Natsu's phone to call you with, sorry."

"It's okay. What's going on?"

"We're grabbing some lunch, wanna come?"

"Oh," She thought for a moment, "Juvia will meet you there. She has thing to do right now."

"Okay! We'll be at the small italian pizzeria in town. Call me later so I know what's going on."

"You got it Lucy, bye bye."

The bluenette hung up. As she turned to go back up the stairs, she jumped when she saw Gray sitting on one of the steps, "sorry." He spoke when he saw her reaction to seeing him, "didn't mean to scare you/"

"That's okay," she responded back.

"So um... was that a friend of yours?"

Juvia nodded, "yes, it was Juvia's friend Lucy. She asked if Juvia would like to join her and a few friends for lunch."

"Lu-Lucy...?" Gray froze and stared into Juvia's large ocean blue eyes.

"Y-yes? Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel, Erza Scarlet, and maybe a few others as well but Juvia doesn't know."

"I knew Lucy. Natsu and Erza too. It's been ten years since I've actually spoken to them."

Now Juvia was shocked. Gray knew her friends, yet none of them mentioned him... not once! Probably something they didn't want to bring up considering.

"How are they?" His voice was almost a whisper.

"All good," Juvia responded. She didn't know how else to really answer that. She noticed a small smile form on him face at the mention of that.

"Do they talk about me?"

She looked down at the ground with pretty much gave Gray the answer that he really wasn't expecting, "oh."

He walked back up the steps and slowly she followed, "maybe it's a tough subject for them."

He remained silent. Once she reached the attic he stared out the window and sighed, "I understand. They all took it pretty bad when they were told what happened," he pointed out the attic window to a tree in the open field, it was the only tree in the open field actually, "see that Sakura tree out there?" Juvia nodded slowly, "Lucy and Erza planted that for Lyon and I, sort of like a memorial type thing. At its base are two rocks that have our names on them which act as our tombstones."

She smiled at that. How could she not? It was such a nice thing that they did. "Juvia doesn't mean to be rude but you mentioned seeing bits of the killer's face. Do you know who they were?"

"I don't know who they were, and I really only saw the malicious smile they had on their face and the glow of their eyes. It was a man, I could tell that much too. I wasn't too focused on their face though since I had a gun being held up to my head. It's scarier than hell to have a gun pointed right at you that's for sure."

"Oh. Well Juvia promises to help you out by finding as many answers as she can."

"How will you do that?"

"In any way possible."

"Thanks Juvia but this case is ten years old that has no out verdict. It's been forgotten about awhile ago."

Juvia went to speak again but was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She answered quickly, "hello."

"Hey, it's Lucy again. Sorry to be calling again but Natsu decided that he wasn't in the mood for pizza, instead he wanted sushi. So now we're at the japanese buffet that in the center of town. I wanted to tell you so that way you didn't go to the pizzeria and wonder where we were. Anyway, you coming?"

"Yes, Juvia is coming. She shall be there shortly."

"Awe- NATSU PUT THAT DOWN!"

Dial tone and dead air was heard on Lucy's side of the phone. Juvia hung up and placed her phone in her pocket. She then proceeded to look over at Gray who had a slight grin on his face.

"They always were like that you know," he couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Juvia knows," she shared in his laughter, "but Juvia will see you later Gray-sama." Without a warning she gave him a small hug then exited the attic to go meet up with her, and his, friends. He stood there, still confused by the hug. He could feel her warmth, which is something that he's never been able to feel before... a living person's warmth. It felt nice, different, but at the same time, it was a feeling that Gray enjoyed having again. He took a seat on the old chair that he spent a lot of time in and simply looked out the attic window at the lone sakura tree. He smiled slightly and a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

* * *

**Author's note: **Well, I apologize for having you all wait for so long but I've been sort of swamped lately with school work and a side project I'm working on (which just so happens to be a graphic novel). I promise I'll try to update more often so if I don't you can all send me private messages and bitch and complain (but don't do that if it take me a month to update!). So yeah, you guys know what to do, review this shit because your reviews make me happier than hell. Love you all!


	3. Chapter 3

Juvia arrived at the small sushi place only to find Natsu making a mess of everything and being held back by Erza and Lucy to keep him from punching the angry sushi chef that he was in a yelling match with. Both the redhead and the blonde were trying their hardest to calm the two men down.

"Um h-hi?" Juvia was quiet as she approached her friends. The three of them looked at her. Lucy smiled and gave Juvia a hug after she released Natsu's arm.

"Control your friend! One more thing like this and all of you are out!" The short, old chef said bitterly after he realized that the arrival of the bluenette calmed down the salmon haired boy and with a huff he walked back to the kitchen.

"Hey Juvia!" Natsu said with his usual big goofy smile.

"What was that about?" Juvia asked with a confused tone.

"That stubborn old man refused to make more of the sushi I like..."

"That's because you ate it all Natsu," Erza responded with a bitter tone as she crossed her arms before looking at Juvia with a soft smile, "but I'm glad you're here Juvia. I want you to meet someone," she grabbed Juvia's hand and began walking back to the table with Lucy and Natsu following close behind. When the approached the table and Erza sat down, that's when Juvia saw him, a man that she had never noticed before sitting down next to Erza drinking his water.

"Juvia, this is my boyfriend and childhood friend, Jellal," Erza smiled sweetly and hugged Jellal's arm.

"Hello, my name is Juvia," the bluenette smiled as she took a seat next to Lucy.

"Hey, Erza told me you'd be coming. It's nice to meet you," his voice was husky as he responded. He also offered a small wave and a soft, almost hidden, grin.

As Juvia was about to ask how he was doing, Natsu's stomach made the sound of a dying whale and he groaned, "I'm so hungry," he said in a voice that made him sound like he was dying.

"Then why don't you go get something?" Lucy suggested kindly.

"Nothing good."

Lucy let out a disgruntled noise, sounding as if she was about to get into a yelling match with her boyfriend, but Erza intervened before the chef came barging out of the kitchen and kicked the five of them out, "hold on a second you two," she raised her glass to about eye height, "eleven years ago today we lost two of our friends. On this day, we raise our glasses and drink in their memory. To Gray and Lyon, two incredibly amazing people and two of our friends who were taken from us far too soon."

The others - minus Juvia since she didn't have a drink yet - raised their glasses and toasted for their lost friends. Juvia had to play this off so she just had to ask, "who were Gray and Lyon if you don't mind Juvia asking. What happened to them?" Erza looked down at the table, and Lucy leaned against Natsu, who wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. "Juvia is sorry, she didn't mean to upset anyone."

"No no Juvia, it's fine," Erza sighed, "back in highschool when I, and I guess Lyon as well, were seniors, the others were juniors. Gray and Lyon were killed when they decided that, after the last exam we all had to take, that they wanted to go play a game of baseball at an old field that use to be where your house currently is. It was raining and Lucy and I had to work so we couldn't join them. Natsu was going to meet up with them later with another friend," she laughed slightly, "the rain wasn't going to stop them," her face then saddened yet again, "by the time Natsu and Elfman showed up, the two of them were gone, both shot, Lyon more than once and the police had been called. Needless to say that wasn't exactly a great day and when I got the call at work I broke down. I actually got sent home because I was a mess," Erza wiped away a few tears that were rolling down her cheeks and put her head against Jellal's chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, consoling her with kind words.

"Shh, it's okay Erza," he said as he gently kissed the top of her head.

Now Juvia knew the whole story, the whole story that Gray had never told her. A story that she only knew a little bit of. Not she knew the whole thing, the whole damn depressing thing. She was trying so hard with ever fiber of her being to hold back her tears and she was doing a good job thus far._ Now Juvia understands why they don't really speak about Gray-sama or Lyon-san..._ Juvia thought to herself as she looked down at the table.

"The sick son of a bitch who killed them was never found and the court dropped the case. I promised myself and everyone else that I'd find and kill the bastard who killed my friends," Natsu said softly.

At this point, Juvia didn't know what else to say. Eleven years and still nothing. Something needed to be done, and the killer needed to be found. The rest of the time at the sushi place was a silent one, for no one knew what else there was that needed to be said.

* * *

Her friends had now told her about the baseball field that once was where Juvia's house now stands - although she had learned that from Gray some time ago - and about the tree that the girl had planted for their friends - another thing that she had learned from Gray. Since today marked the eleven year anniversary of the incident, the group had decided to visit the lone tree behind Juvia's house with flowers and a stuffed teddy bear. When they reached Juvia's house, Lucy was in tears and Erza was close to them, and they walked out back towards the tree.

"That tree sure is a beauty," Lucy smiled softly when she noticed it and Erza nodded in agreement. As they grew closer and closer to the tree, Juvia froze in her tracks suddenly when she noticed two figures playing baseball. There they were, Lyon and Gray. _Did they notice us?_ Juvia wondered. Her question was shortly answered when she saw Lyon nudge Gray's arm and point in her direction. Gray turned around and gave her a soft smile and Juvia gave the two boys a small wave which led to Gray and Lyon both waving back to her with smiles on their faces. However they then suddenly stopped, the smiles disappearing from both of their faces. Without a warning the two vanished into thin air making Juvia wonder where they had gone. She looked to her right, and then to her left only to notice Jellal standing a few inches away from her with a look of shock and horror on his face. _Did Jellal-kun see them as well_? He was trembling as he shut his mouth that was hanging open.

"Jellal-kun, are you okay?" Juvia asked him sweetly as she approached him with caution.

"Juvia can I ask you something?" He asked her as he turned his head in her direction. She nodded so he asked his question, "d-did you see them?" His voice was even trembling with fear.

She had to play this off but at the same time, she wasn't sure if he saw her waving to them, "see who?" She might have said that, but she really wanted to just tell him the truth, that she did see them.

"Oh, nobody. I guess... I guess I'm just seeing things is all then," he laughed it off nervously before he ran over to join Erza, Lucy, and Natsu by the tree. She began walking slowly as she looked around, hoping to see them again, but they were nowhere in sight. As a last resort she looked up to her attic window which is where she saw Gray, his hand was pressed against the glass of the small squared window. He saw her, and motioned his head towards the tree; she understood what he meant. She nodded, then walked over to join the others by the Sakura tree which was indeed, beautiful just like Lucy had said. Gray had told her about the rock that were at the base of the tree's trunk and now she finally had the chance to see them since she had learned about them. One of them read "Gray Fullbuster : X792 - X811" and the other, "Lyon Vastia : X791 - X811". The flowers and the bear that the girls had bought after they left the sushi place were both placed right in the middle of the two 'tombstones', with the bear acting like it was holding the flowers.

"It wasn't fair to them," Natsu said solemnly, "they didn't stand a chance against the gun that sick bastard had."

Lucy and Erza remained silent. Juvia simply looked down at the ground and she would occasionally glance over at Jellal who still looked somewhat traumatized. _Why is Jellal-kun so worried? What isn't he saying?_**  
**…

* * *

Author's note:

So, I updated. I'm trying to get myself on a regular update schedule but I'm not sure how long that'll actually last but we'll see. Anyway, I introduced Jellal in this chapter. I want to hear what you guys think is going on with him and why (hearing your thoughts makes me happy because it shows me how involved you actually are). Anyway, as you could tell this chapter had mentions of Jerza and NaLu and I actually made Lyon show up so yay! Hmm, things will probably getting more and more suspenseful and mysterious as the chapters go on because thats the point of this story. So leave your reviews and your feedback, I enjoy them oh so much.


	4. Chapter 4

Once her friends left her house, Juvia instantly ran to the attic. He was still in the exact same spot as before, looking out the small attic window with a cigarette in his mouth that was never getting any smaller and it wasn't releasing any smoke. He looked at Juvia, and she looked at him.

"Why did you and Lyon-san vanish earlier when you saw Erza's boyfriend Jellal?" She asked him softly.

Gray sighed, "meet Lyon and I outside." And then he was gone from her vision without a single warning. She ran to the window and saw the two young men down below looking up at her. Lyon gave her a wave and Gray motioned his head back slightly as if he was saying 'come on'. She nodded and went to join the two in the yard. Juvia had never met Lyon before, let alone see before today but if her friends knew him then she'll get to know him too.

"Lyon, this is Juvia," Gray introduced her with a smug grin on his face.

"Ah hello Juvia-chan! I've heard about you from Gray," Lyon smiled at her happily and extended out his hand. Juvia smiled softly and shook his hand.

"Please, just call me Juvia," she said to him with a soft and sweet smile.

"So Juvia asked me a question before I came out here to join you Lyon."

The white haired young man raised a brow, "really now? What was that question?"

Gray nodded and looked over at Juvia, "you wanted to know why we vanished when we saw Erza's boyfriend right?"

Juvia nodded, "yes. Why?"

"Well he looked oddly familiar," Gray spoke in a hushed tone. "When I pointed it out to Lyon we decided that it wasn't a good idea to hang around outside when he was around."

"Erza said that he was a childhood friend of her's. Maybe you guys have met him before."

"Huh," Lyon thought for a bit about what Juvia just said, "maybe we know him from school then Gray."

"Doubtful. I know for a fact that Erza wasn't dating that guy in high school, let alone even hang out with him. I don't even think he attended our high school for that matter."

"And how exactly do you know that Erza wasn't dating that guy in high school? Erza wasn't the type of person to really speak about her personal life around all of us."

Silence. Gray looked away from Juvia and Lyon, his hands clenched into fists.

"Gray?"

"Gray-sama?"

"I dated Erza in highschool okay?! You happy now?!" Gray had snapped at them both. Juvia's eyes widened and Lyon's jaw hung open slightly. Gray sighed and calmed himself down a bit before he continued, "she mentioned this Jellal guy to me a few times, saying that he was a friend of her's who she lost contact with a few years back."

"And to think, all this time I thought you've never had a girlfriend or even been kissed before! Way to go!"

"LYON!" Gray got loud once again then calmed down when he had his friend's attention, "that's not the point here! The point here is that this Jellal guy looks very familiar to me. I mean come on Lyon, doesn't his face make some gears grind in your head? Doesn't he look familiar?"

Lyon thought for a bit and placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, _blue hair, bizarre facial tattoo..._ "yes he does. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing him hanging out with Ultear quite a bit."

Gray snapped his fingers when he remembered exactly what Lyon was talking about, "that's it!"

Juvia, after remaining silent for a while after learning that Gray and Erza actually dated for a while, finally spoke up, "Juvia doesn't understand. Who is Ultear? What conclusion are you two trying to get at with this?"

"Ultear was the daughter of the woman who adopted Gray and I when we were younger. She's the same age as Erza and I," Lyon answered her first question.

"And to answer your second question, well, I've only met Jellal once before in my life and it was for a brief minute. He didn't really say a whole lot but just by seeing his face again makes me think that I've seen it another time in my life before now, and after the first time I saw him," Gray answered the second question she had.

Juvia knew exactly what Gray was getting at with this, "you don't think that -"

"Yes."

"But he seemed like such a nice guy."

"It's usually the nice ones who are fooling you the most."

"Now hold on a second Gray," Lyon said after a brief moment of silence between the three after he realized what Gray was hinting at, "what proof do we have? If you haven't exactly realized this yet, we're dead okay? We can't just go to the police and we can't just send Juvia to them either. It's a lost cause Gray so just let it go."

"But Lyon I-"

"Let it go Gray."

Gray crossed his arms in frustration. Everything, or so he thought, was finally clicking for him and Lyon had shot him down with the truth. Realizing that Gray wasn't exactly the happiest now, Lyon offered a friendly smile, "how about a game of ball Gray?"

"Not now Lyon. Maybe later though," Gray responded as he sat down in the grass and looked up at the sky. It was filled with beautiful shades of pinks and oranges thanks to the setting sun.

"Suit yourself," Lyon shrugged it off, "later Gray, bye Juvia-chan." He waved to her before he disappeared from sight.

"It's not Juvia-chan! Just Juvia!" She said in response, when in reality it simply looked like she was yelling at nothing.

"Juvia," Gray didn't look at her. He didn't even move. All he did was break their moment of silence.

"Yes Gray-sama?" She asked as she sat down in front of him.

"You told me when we first met that you're willing to help me figure this whole situation out, correct?"

She nodded, "yes of course."

"Good. Then I need you to help me out with something."

"What is it?"

"Help me know for certain that Erza's boyfriend Jellal killed Lyon and I."

"How will Juvia do that?"

"I don't know Juvia!" He sighed out of frustration and then took a deep breath to attempt to calm himself down a bit, "just try to figure him out. Look at old newspaper articles about the incident or ask my friend Levy for help. She works at the library so she can probably find some old files on him or something, like his permanent record or something along those lines, I don't know. Just do whatever you can so I can finally be at peace with myself. You'll do this for me won't you Juvia?"

"Well Juvia doesn't-"

"Please. I'm begging you Juvia... you're the only hope I have left..."

_Juvia did tell Gray-sama she would help him..._ "okay," she sighed, "Juvia will help."

"Thank you Juvia... thank you."

It was at that very moment that she saw Gray shed a single tear as he continued to look down at the ground. She gently placed a hand on his knee and he glanced up at her slightly and could see her sweet and kind smile through his messy hair, "you're welcome Gray-sama."

* * *

**Author's note:** Boom! So I understand that this chapter had a mention of some past tense Grayza in it. Don't like it? Get over yourself. Lyon actually got to speak so woo! Alright let me see here... well, Gray seems to think that Jellal killed Lyon and him but what exactly do you guys think?

Oh yeah, I'm also going to try keeping up with an upload schedule and I'll try to upload chapters for this on Tuesdays. Next Tuesday is when I'll try to get Chapter five out for everyone to read (eh, hopefully). Anyway, review away and leave your thoughts on the whole 'Jellal killed them' thing.


	5. Chapter 5

Juvia reached over the the nightstand and shut off her phone alarm. She yawned and suddenly felt warmth from behind her. She turned slightly to see Gray twirling a strand of her blue hair. It shocked her, seeing him there, but at the same time she really didn't mind it all that much.

"Morning," he said with a soft grin on his face.

"Good morning Gray-sama. What brings you here?" Juvia asked as she sat up slightly, still sort of reclined back on her pillows and looked at him.

"Well the attic gets lonely," he laughed, "so I wanted to stop by and visit with you, however I didn't realize you were asleep so I decided to wait until you got up... please don't find that strange..."

Juvia giggled slightly as she sat up completely in bed and stretched, "no not at all," she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, "Juvia has work today since her holiday is over."

Gray's grin instantly disappeared and was replaced with a childish pout, "well when do you come back?"

"Juvia will be home around five. We can talk then and maybe play a game of baseball. How's that sound?"

The pout was gone when he heard her say she would play a game of ball with him later and a big goofy grin appeared, "that sounds like fun! I'll tell Lyon and we can have a nice small game. Do you know how to play?"

She shook her head, "not really but Juvia is willing to learn."

"Then I'm willing to teach."

She went through her morning routine: showering, getting dressed and doing her hair, eating breakfast, brushing her teeth. You know, your typical morning routine. Gray smiled softly to himself as he watched her do this, _I remember doing all those things... _"Well, Juvia is off to work. Bye bye Gray-sama," Juvia sang cheerfully from her front door. He gave her a small wave and watched as she exited the house. He wasn't exactly sure what he should do now. He hadn't had the house all to himself since before Juvia moved into it and the couple before he left so that was quite some time ago. He sighed as he made his way over to the fireplace she had and grabbed one of the pictures. He smiled when he noticed everyone in it: Lisanna, Natsu, Lucy, Erza. It was the whole gang. He missed all of their faces, and their voices, and everything about them really. He remembered Natsu's habit of always being a pig and wanting to pick a fight with him over something stupid, or Lucy telling him that he needed to be more cheerful and outgoing instead of being a sad sack. He remembered Erza's warm hugs and the secret kisses they would share when no one else was around. He remembered going over to her house on Friday nights and just being with her. He remembered Mira and how she use to fight with Erza and how the two grew out of that phase rather quickly. He remembered Elfman being so fucking 'manly' that is was ridiculous, and he remembered when Lisanna came back from studying abroad for three years. Slowly, memories were returning to him and they were making him smile. He wanted to remember more and more but taking a bullet to the head really fucked with his brain. He placed the picture back on the fireplace and took a seat on her couch. Looking up at the ceiling, he sighed and gently hit his head against the wall behind him, thinking that maybe that would spark something and allow all the good, and bad, things to return to him. "I wonder how Cana and everybody else is..." he asked himself quietly as he remembered more of his friends who went to highschool with him. Out of the blue the thought of Juvia returned to his head and he couldn't seem to make it go away. It was when she first moved into the house...

* * *

_Six years ago (January):_

_Gray was enjoying himself in the attic of the house that had just been abandoned by the couple who lived her. It was great, he now had a place where he could stay and wander around in instead of just hanging out in that field all day. Well, he thought it was great until he saw a moving van out front of his house. He was livid now. Why would someone be moving into **his** house? How exactly was that fair huh?! He died here, he deserved the house. A young woman with short blue hair exited the light blue car that had pulled into the driveway and walked over to the other side to grab a few things. Now he knew that she was moving in; she had boxes! And furniture! And a really nice car..._

_"Stop thinking about the car Gray..." he told himself in a fit of anger. He didn't want someone to move into this house, it was his! His, his, his! And then the thought occurred to him: he was a ghost. If he really tried he could just scare this person away just like the couple before her and the house would be his again. Simple. That's what he would do, scare her off just like that. He grinned to himself knowing that he had just thought of a genius plan. The door opened and he simply stood where he was, right by the window that was in the living room area and watched as the girl and two movers came inside. The two men were carrying a couch and they looked like they were in pain._

_"You gonna make it over there?" The one with shoulder-length reddish orange hair asked, sounding like he was out of breath. That man looked familiar to Gray, and he knew why too, he was one of his professors when he was in highschool. When exactly did he become a guy who moved furniture?_

_"Just fantastic," said the other one, a man with a cigar in his mouth who looked like he was ready to collapse any moment._

_"Just place the sofa right here," said the girl who was standing a good foot away from Gray as she pointed to where she wanted her couch. The two men nodded and placed it down where she wanted it. The one with the cigar wiped his brow and the movers then walked back outside to probably grab more of this girl's furniture._

_"Fuck..." Gray said aloud softly. Maybe she wouldn't leave once all of her stuff was there, "clearly I didn't think my plan through enough..."_

_All he could do was watch as boxes, shelves, and furniture were brought in from outside. He had made himself a nice comfy seat on the coffee table that was just brought in and placed in front of the couch as he watched these two men work, and he was actually amazed that the one with the cigar was still trucking through considering the fact he looked like he was ready to fall over dead any moment now. The girl had been busy walking up and down the steps with numerous boxes that left Gray wondering why she had so many damn boxes! Seriously, he didn't even have that much shit when he and Lyon moved into their small apartment after Ul's death._

_After several hours and a small lunch break between the girl and the two men, they had finally left the bluenette and Gray alone. He thought about messing with her; picking up some of her belongings, or hitting walls. But when he looked at her he could just tell that she was confused about what to expect living here so clearly she was new to the area. She obviously didn't know anything about what had happened here six years earlier so maybe he shouldn't act like a dick to her. Sighing in defeat, he took his leave up to the attic where he decided to live out the rest of his days just observing from afar._

* * *

He blinked several times as he came out of his dazed state of mind. A smile was plastered on his face, "Juvia sure has changed a lot these past years..." and that wasn't a bad thing. He didn't think her short hair suited her well at all, in fact, he actually was fond of the fact that she had decided to let her hair grow out, it seemed to fit her personality a lot more now. He looked around her house and noticed another picture on the coffee table he had once used as a chair that had a few framed pictures on the shelf under it. He grabbed one and smiled at it; a picture of the girls: Juvia, Erza, Levy, Lucy, Cana, Mira. It seemed like they were celebrating something but he couldn't really make out where they were or what they were even celebrating but they were all happy which is all he cared about. Even Erza had a big smile on her face with her arms around Lucy and Juvia's shoulders. His smile slowly began to fade away as he remembered that smile. It was the sweetest thing he had ever seen in his whole life and he missed seeing it now.

"I took seeing her smile for granted..." he said softly to himself as he placed the picture back down, not taking his eyes off of it for a second. Looking back on his life, he took a lot of things for granted, things that he probably shouldn't of. All he wanted to do was hear Erza's laugh again, see her smile, embrace her in his arms, feel her lips against his own, and hell, even just hear her voice. There were so many things about her that he missed, and there was one thing he regretted the most: not telling his friends that the two were a couple just like they had planned. Maybe then they would have understood why she was the biggest wreck in the group after his death. Maybe then they would have understood why she refused to smile at anything. Now he understood why it took so long for her to mention him to Juvia... it was all coming back to him now...

* * *

_Ten years ago (September):_

_He stood by her locker in hopes of surprising her today for today was a special day, it was her birthday. He had a surprise or two for her inside of his backpack and he just couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he handed them to her. He could see her walking down the hall with Mira and Cana because he could see her gorgeous scarlet hair swaying back and forth with every step she took. He smiled a goofy brace filled smile but quickly hid it, remembering the ridiculous things on his teeth thanks to Natsu punching him square in the jaw a year and two months prior and fucking up his mouth. He was going to get that little shit back for what he had done one day. She grew closer and closer to him and his heart was racing. Trying to make himself look presentable, he ran a few fingers through his messy black hair in order to try and tame it some which was unsuccessful._

_"What're you doing?" Erza giggled when she saw him messing with his hair. He looked up at her and gave a crooked smile, "and why don't you smile like you use to?" She asked him. She loved his smile and she hated the fact that he stopped showing it._

_"Blame the idiot for fucking up my jaw..." he said as he crossed his arms and had the look of a pouting child on his face. Erza cracked a small smile and giggled a bit which made him give her one of his old smiles, ya know, before the braces, "I have something for you by the way."_

_"Gray," Erza spoke softly as she opened up her locker and grabbed a few books and placed a few down, "not here. People don't know about us. Come over after school and you can give them to me there."_

_"I have to get my braces off today, thank God, and then Lyon is going to get his license so I can't. Please Erza. I hate hiding like this! Why can't we just tell people we're a couple already? We've been together a good four months now..."_

_"I'll tell you what, since we promised Lucy we would go to Homecoming as a group, we'll do that. After Homecoming we'll announce that we're a couple, how's that sound?"_

_He grunted, "fine I guess. Now can I give you your presents please?"_

_As she was about to answer, Lucy and Levy came down the stairs just a few feet away and ran towards her, "Erza!" They both cried out. The redhead looked at them and smiled sweetly. Gray rolled his eyes and just kept his anger inside._

_"Hey, what's going on?" She asked her friends._

_"Lu-chan and I are going Homecoming dress shopping after school today. Would you like to join us?" Levy asked cheerfully._

_She looked over at Gray who gave a soft nod and crossed his arms. All he wanted to do was give Erza her damn gifts and there was going to be no time left at this rate, "sure that sounds like fun. I didn't know you were asked though Levy, who're you going with?"_

_Lucy let out a soft laugh as Levy looked at her with an angry expression, "it's not funny Lu-chan!"_

_"Yes it is Levy," Lucy responded though a fit of laughter._

_Levy sighed, "Jet and Droy both asked so I just figured I would go. When I told Lu-chan earlier this is exactly how she reacted and it really isn't all that funny..." Levy seemed sort of pissed off which was a rare occurrence for the petite bluenette girl._

_"Jet **AND** Droy?" Erza asked questionably. She knew that both boys liked her but she never thought they would both ask her to a dance._

_Levy nodded, "then they got into a fight because they both asked so I walked away which led them to look at me and yell 'LEVY!' So in return I just said yes to both of them so they wouldn't kill each other."_

_Gray was losing his shit. He was trying so hard to hold in his laugher but it was unsuccessful thus far which just caused Levy to become more flustered with the whole situation. Erza glanced over to Gray and elbowed him in the gut which caused him to keel over just a bit and grab his stomach, "what was **that** for?!" He asked angrily._

_"Stop being a jerk," she glared at him with her demon like eyes. She might have been his girlfriend but holy fuck was she scary when she wanted to be. _

_Lucy had now composed herself a bit to speak once again, "so since you're joining us Erza should we just leave after school?"_

_Erza nodded, "sure." And before Gray knew it she had shut her locker and walked off with her friends, leaving him standing there with a bag filled with gifts for his girlfriend. He grunted once more and opened her locker (since he knew her combination), opened his bag and placed a square shaped black velvet box in there, a teddy bear, a card, and a single white rose. Although he wanted to personally give those things to her, he figured that would have to do. He shut her locker and walked up the steps to head to his next class with none other than the flame brained idiot himself: Natsu Dragneel._

* * *

Gray still hated the fact that Erza treated him like just a friend whenever the group was around instead of like her boyfriend. He wasn't allowed to give her hugs when they departed in the morning, or hold her hand when they walked off to class. It sucked and it still did because he knew that his friends never got to know. It sucked because he thought he wasn't good enough for her because they were sneaking around in the shadows as a couple but he understood why. It was because everyone knew Erza to be so focused on her school work and student council work that she just didn't come off as the type to really have a boyfriend.

"I wish we would have told people..." Gray said aloud to himself as he slouched on the couch and looked back up at the ceiling. There were a lot of memories that involved Erza that he really just wanted to forget because they brought up his painful past but at the same time they were memories of who he was as a person which made them special to him. He felt tears rolling down his face and he quickly wiped them away. Tears are what made him still feel alive, not dead. Memories made him feel human, not ghostly. Everything about him made him feel like he was still a teenage kid who had a really troubling past. He knew that when he first saw Juvia he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time and he knew it was wrong but he really didn't care. He knew that he loved her. He loved Juvia, a living, breathing person, whereas he, Gray Fullbuster, was as dead as a doornail, left as nothing more than a ghost of his former self. He hadn't felt an actual emotion in his heart since Erza was in his life so it was weird feeling it again for such a long absence without it.

_Maybe that's why I confided everything in Juvia... maybe that's why I want her to help me..._ he thought to himself as he placed his chin in the palm on his hand. Whatever the case was, there was a story behind it. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he had fallen in love with the blue haired girl, but he wasn't exactly sure if he had fallen out of love with his redheaded maiden either... "fuck me..." he grunted to himself and threw his head back against the wall.

* * *

The boxes that Juvia had in the attic made him wonder about what was in them. She seemed to mind him exploring so he had decided to go through a few of the boxes. Old pictures from high school, and college, and a bunch of her friends, the guy with black hair and all the piercings scared the living hell out of Gray, and old clothes and candles, and things along those lines. These were all things that had been long forgotten and he wondered why, however he didn't want to question her about it, she had her reasons for keeping those things in boxes and stashed away in her attic. There was one picture left in the box he was currently looking through so he grabbed it. Upon seeing it, he smiled sweetly, it was her during the summer. She was with the scary guy with black hair and it was picture that one of them took. She was smiling and she looked so happy. Her happiness was important to him and Gray wanted to make sure that Juvia was always happy, he didn't ever want to see her cry, and he was going to protect her the best he could, that was the promise he was making to himself. He placed the picture down on the dusty end table with all the others. He looked around the attic at his new setup and it felt like he had just made himself a little home up there consisting of old pictures of Juvia and her friends, candles, and other old things that had been forgotten about. He sat down in the old chair that he usually sat in when he looked out the window. The old clock that he had found earlier was now placed on the wall since he had fixed it and it was close to five which meant that Juvia would be home from work soon and that made him happy. He wanted to show her what he had done to the attic, and he was also looking forward to teach her how to play baseball. Slowly, he watched as the clocked ticked away and finally, it was five. Now all he had to do was wait for her to return home, and he wasn't sure how long that would take which made him groan. He was tired of waiting, he was waiting all day. Curse work, curse being bored, and curse the fact that he had absolutely nothing to do all day long. And so he just waited, watching the clocked as every second slowly ticked by, every minute making it seem like the earth was moving slower than before.

"Damn this is boring," he grunted to himself as he rested his cheek against a fist. Waiting really sucked, it always did...

* * *

As time passed him by it was around five-thirty that Juvia finally got home. Gray perked up and smiled as he waited for her in the chair he had been waiting so patiently in.

"Gray-sama! Juvia is home!" She called out cheerfully.

In order for her to know where he was, he stomped his foot down as hard as he possibly could on the ground. She looked up and smiled to herself as she made her way up to see him. He heard her approaching and it excited him. He enjoyed the time he spent with her that was for sure and he was glad she came into his life. He heard the door open and her footsteps coming up the steps. Three... Two... One, he thought to himself while he grinned. By the time he reached one she was walking towards him. He stood and was shocked when she embraced him in a hug.

"Juvia missed you Gray-sama! How was your day today?" She asked him sweetly.

"Really long and boring. However I want your opinion on something," he said as he gently pushed her away from his chest and held his hands out to his sides as if he was showcasing the new setup. He was smiling as she looked around at all of her old pictures that she had completely forgotten about. "What'd ya think?"

She smiled at him as her eyes sparkled, "Gray-sama, you decorated with all of Juvia's old pictures?" She seemed shocked and happy at the same time. Was that even possible?

He nodded, "yeah. I wanted to know what was in all of these boxes and then I decided to decorate and make the attic feel more like a home to me. You like it?"

"Of course Juvia does. She had completely forgotten about all of this stuff," she hugged him yet again and it made him smile as he placed a hand on her back. That's when he remembered that he had to teach her how to play baseball.

"Let's go play a game of ball, I promised I would teach you."

"Let Juvia eat first, and then she'll have to change but she's been looking forward to it all day."

He nodded and she began observing all of the old pictures from highschool and they made her smile. Gray placed a hand on her shoulder and she nodded. The two began walking downstairs because Gray was just so anxious to hear all about Juvia's day and he was pretty sure she was excited to tell him about it.

* * *

**Author's note:** So, here you guys have it. Things are finally starting to get interesting if you ask me. By the way, do you guys like the idea of me throwing some of Gray's memories into the mix? I figured it would help out some with a backstory. Let me know, your word means a lot to me.  
So another thing, more mention of Grayza but I really don't care if that bothers you, it's all past tense. Oh yeah, Gray had braces O: get over that too... this is set in a world where they don't have magic so that means they're normal kids. I'm keeping them in character but I'm creating them in a way I feel would fit them. Sticking to the OVA episode where they're in highschool, Erza is still the Student Council president.  
Anyway, I like the fact that I'm giving Gray emotions and feelings towards Juvia and still allowing his feelings towards Erza to cause even more conflict in his life. At this point, I still can't tell how long this story is going to be but I hope it'll last for a while longer still.  
Another announcement, I'm going to hold a little bit of a contest. For those of you who can guess who killed Gray and Lyon correctly I'll write a fanfiction story dedicated to you, one shot most likely but we'll see, and of course it'll have to be about a Fairy Tail couple. So start your guessing, or start your thinking, I don't know xD I always read the reviews so when this story comes to a close I'll put the winner in the author's note so I really hope everyone reads these.  
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll continue with my Tuesday uploading schedule which seems to be working out rather well thus far.


	6. Chapter 6

A long night of baseball ended in star gazing for Gray and Juvia, for Lyon had left earlier to join Romeo in a game of some sort on the boy's X-box.

"Look," Juvia pointed to a group of stars, "that's Sagittarius."

"I'm going to go out on a whim here and guess that you learned about all of these constellations from Lucy?"

Juvia nodded with a smile, "yes."

Gray chuckled a bit as he grinned, "good to know she's still into the same things."

"Juvia finds it all very interesting, just like baseball. Thank you for teaching Juvia, Gray-sama."

He nodded. Teaching Juvia how to play baseball brought back memories of when he taught Erza and when he had to help Natsu teach Lucy. The bluette removed her hair from the ponytail she had pulled it up in earlier and Gray watched as her azure locks fell into place without her even trying.

"Juvia went to the library at her lunch today," she looked into Gray's lifeless dark blue eyes.

"Really?"

She nodded, "yes. Juvia spoke with Levy-san about the whole thing that happened to you and Lyon-san. She gave Juvia some old newspaper clippings on the whole incident that she had. She's also seeing what she can find online for Juvia."

He grinned softly, _that a girl Levy. I knew you'd help. _His thought was stopped when he noticed that Juvia was shivering, "cold?" He asked her. She looked at him with her big blue eyes and nodded as she scooted closer to him in the grass._ How exactly am I suppose to keep her warm? _He didn't really know what to do so he did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to wrap his arms around her shoulders like he use to do with Erza, "look, if you're cold then lets head back inside. I'm not a big help in this situation." She nodded once more and stood up, with Gray doing the exact same thing as he followed her into her house.

* * *

****Juvia had made herself a cup of hot chocolate and was wrapped up in the warmest blanket she owned. She was seated next to Gray on her couch and he was going through the television channels in hopes of finding something to watch, even though he had been through all the channels about three times already and there was still nothing that seemed to catch his, or Juvia's, eyes.

"Juvia has an idea," she placed her cup down on the coffee table, "let's watch a movie."

"Okay," he liked the sound of that, "what movie?"

She had to think about that. _Juvia wonders what movies Gray-sama likes, _"what does Gray-sama like?"

He shrugged, "I'll watch anything really so it doesn't matter to me."****

_Hmm, maybe The Notebook, or The Lucky One, or Dear John... or... or... no wait. Silly Juvia! Those are tear-jerking romance movies... Hmm... _her train of thought stopped when she heard Gray's husky voice, "what about this?" He held out Transformers and waited for her to either agree or disagree. She nodded, grabbed the movie from him, and went over to put it into the DVD player. Taking her place back on the couch, she started the movie that she didn't even know she had. Maybe this movie is Gajeel-kun's... "what's this movie about Gray-sama?"

Gray stared at her with a raised brow and a shocked look on his face, "you've never see this movie before?"

"No...?"

"Well to sum the whole thing up, it's about robots, good robots called Autobots, and bad robots called Decepticons, that are disguised on Earth and they fight each other over this thing called the Allspark. Now that you know that, you'll understand the movie," he explained. Really, that was all she needed to know.

"That doesn't sound like a very interesting movie," she raised a brow and simply watched as the movie started.

"Trust me Juvia, it's interesting."

She shrugged it off and just decided to listen to him. She trusted him and his taste in whatever it was they were about to watch.

* * *

Not even halfway through the movie and Juvia had fallen asleep, leaning right up against Gray with her head right on his shoulder and Gray didn't have the heart to move her. He didn't even have the heart to pick her up and take her up to her bed. She looked so peaceful just laying there, just like an angel. He moved some of her blue hair from her face and she twitched a little which startled him, he didn't want to wake her up that was for sure because he wasn't sure if she would react like Erza use to when he would just move slightly and wake her up from her nap. He cringed slightly at the thought of waking up a sleeping female._ I doubt Juvia is like Erza if she's woken up but I really can't be so sure about that... _Juvia moved and wrapped her arms around his waist with a smile on her face. Gray was taken aback slightly by her display but he didn't really seem to mind it any, Juvia was actually one of the select few people that he was comfortable with now, Lyon being the other (he didn't really communicate with a lot of people now). The way Juvia was sleeping on him just made him think about Erza and how she use to do that... Erza... he really did miss her...

* * *

_Ten years ago (October):_

Gray had just arrived at Erza's house just as it started to rain. When her grandfather Rob answered the door he was soaked.

"Hurry up and get inside before you get sick," the old man said as Gray hurried in. He was shivering since the rain was cold and entering Erza's warm house was the greatest feeling in the world to him right now. Erza's grandfather had grabbed the blanket that he had on the back of the couch and handed it to his granddaughter's boyfriend who accepted it with a smile, "she's in her room." Gray nodded and kicked off his shoes before he walked up to his girlfriend's room so he didn't leave puddles throughout the house. When he reached her room her door was closed so he knocked softly.

"Come in," she responded. She sounded like she had her face buried in something like a book or a magazine. He opened her door slowly and she shot her head up at him with a smile, "Gray!" She sprang off her bed and ran towards him to give him a welcoming hug.

"Wait! I'm soaking wet from the rain outside. I got stuck in it when I was about five minutes away from your house," he said to her before she embraced him.

"I told you I would come get you.."

"And I told you that I wanted the exercise. A ride home would be appreciated though."

She smiled at him and approached him slowly, stopping right in front of him. Without a warning she lifted his shirt over his head and left him standing there with his chest exposed and a confused expression, "I didn't think we were this far along in our relationship." He gave a very devious grin which in return got him a slap in the face, "what'd I do?!"

"We aren't doing _**that**__ you idiot! I'm going to take your shirt downstairs to dry it. Oh and give me your pants."_

_"My- my- my... What?"_

_"Your pants. And your socks. Give me them so I can dry them."_

_Not wanting to get hit again, he just decided to listen. He stripped himself of his pants and socks before he handed them over to his girlfriend who happily walked out of her room. Gray stood there in nothing but his boxers not knowing what else there was to do so he decides to wrap himself up in the blanket he had relieved from Erza's grandfather and sit down on her bed, making sure he moved the magazine she was reading, "who the hell reads these articles? I mean really, 7 ways to make your man hot... Hey wait a second..." He began skimming through the article to see if Erza was doing any of these things. He heard footsteps and pretended he wasn't looking at her magazine._

_"Getting warm?" She asked happily as she walked in and sat next to him._

_"I'm trying. I appreciate the fact that you're washing my clothes but I'm sitting in your room in nothing but my boxers and that's sort of awkward..."_

_"Oh hush. My grandpa knows," she yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder._

_"Are you tired?" He asked as he opened the blanket and allowed her to snuggle up closer to him._

_"A little bit. The rain always makes me sleepy, don't know why though."_

_"Why don't you take a nap then? I'll be right here when you wake up."_

_She looked up at him and pouted slightly, "if I'm taking a nap then you're taking a nap with me Gray Fullbuster!"_

_He was taken aback a bit, "okay okay I'll take a nap with you. Just calm your tits."_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"Uh, uh, I mean... Yes, I'll take a nap with you."_

_"That's what I thought you said."_

_He sweat dropped and watched as she got comfortable in her bed. She patted the space next to her and he flopped back with the blanket he had originally wrapped around him. He watched as she got comfortable and snuggled up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. The warmth from her body was radiating off of him and keeping him warm, which made him smile. Gray kissed the top of her head when he realized that she had fallen asleep. She looked so peaceful and harmless and innocent, just like an angel. She was his angel._

_After a while, Gray's side was beginning to hurt and become uncomfortable. He needed to move but he didn't want to disturb her in her slumber, but he __**needed**__ to move. Laying on his side was incredibly uncomfortable for him and he hated doing in. He watched Erza move a little so he decided to do the same thing. Slowly he began turning until he was laying on his back with his hands behind his head, "much better." He felt Erza move again only this time, she was hovering over him, "we'll hey there beautiful." He brought his head up slightly for a kiss when she rejected him, shot him down with a devilish glare, "something wrong?"_

_"I was comfortable! Why'd you move?!" She spat back at him._

_"Well hey I was just trying to get comfortable myself. I hate laying on my side so I apologize. Now just lay back down and I won't move anymore."_

_She gave a sweet smile then proceeded to get comfortable once again. She cuddled close to Gray's chest and he simply grinned and once again kissed the top of her head as he stroked her long scarlet hair._**_ Crazy woman... _**_He thought to himself as he finally decided to nap._

* * *

He had been sitting still for far too long and he really needed to move. Slowly, he started to move and he held Juvia in place so she didn't smack her face against the pillow. Once he was up, he gently laid Juvia down on the pillow. She moved slightly but she didn't wake up, she just moved the way she was laying. He let out a sigh of relief, so she isn't like Erza at all. For some reason that made him feel at ease with himself. Now he had no idea what he was going to do, maybe turn off the movie and the lights since Juvia had fallen asleep. He skimmed the room for the remote and found it sitting by her empty cup that once had hot chocolate in it so he turned off the tv and grabbed her empty cup, "I'll wash this for her." He said softly to himself as he went around and turned off the light she had on in the living room before he made his way into the kitchen. He turned on the water and rinsed out the cup then turned off the kitchen light. He looked over at her sleeping figure on the couch and he smiled sweetly, "sleep well Juvia, I'll be here when you get up." He started to make his way up the stairs but stopped and walked back towards the living room to really be there for her when she awoke. He sat down in the recliner she had and relaxed. He didn't want to seem creepy and watch her, but at the same time, he wanted to protect her.

* * *

**Author's note:** Lots of Grayza but I really don't care at this point. I ship them too, so what? I'm allowed, I'm only human. Anyway, I'm throwing in the memories because Gray needs to have them if you want him to help you guys figure out who killed him and Lyon. I deeply enjoy everyone who is leaving their suggestions about who killed them but as the chapters go on let's see if you guys are right or wrong. If you haven't figured this out, I'm hinting that Gray had a really tragic past with all of his memories but you'll find that out later as they continue going more guesses on who you think killed the boys! So let me know what everyone thinks about this story because I'm really having a lot of fun typing it up. This is actually my most reviewed story and that just makes me so happy. Just know that I love each and every one of you so thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been doing pretty good with this upload schedule so yay for me! Tuesdays are usually when I don't do much so that's why I'm sticking to it. Review away my friends!


	7. Chapter 7

It was Saturday, and Saturday meant that Juvia didn't have to go into work, she didn't have to get up early, and she didn't have to worry about doing a thing, a damn thing. It was noon when she had decided it was time to get up, except she wasn't in her bedroom, she was on her couch with a blanket over her.

"Good morning," that voice was so familiar to her, and it made her smile whenever she heard it.

"Good morning Gray-sama," she responded back to him with a smile on her face. She sat up and stretched her arms, then proceeded to run her fingers through her hair to try and look a bit more presentable, instead of having bed head like she currently possessed. Gray just kept his eyes focused on her as she ran her fingers through her curly blue locks of hair.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked as he paid attention to her every movement.

"Yes," she said as she stood up and folded the blanket she had on, "Juvia slept very well. What did Gray-sama do while Juvia slept?"

"I actually looked at those newspaper clippings you had... they brought back some painful memories that's for sure."

Juvia looked over at him. She hadn't really touched the newspaper clippings since Levy had given them to her yesterday when she visited the library. She had planned on looking at them today, but maybe she would see what Gray had to say about what he observed before she took a look at them to figure out what she could, "oh? Why's that?"

"Well, I got shot in the head and I actually saw the wound thanks to one of the pictures..." he sighed, "I didn't realize it was that gruesome to be totally honest with you."

In all honesty, Juvia never even noticed a gunshot wound anywhere on Gray's head. Maybe it was because she didn't ever think about, or maybe it was because she didn't want to even see it, however it was at this moment in time where she actually wanted to know, she wanted to see it, "may Juvia see it?"

Gray looked taken aback by her statement. He gently rubbed the back of his head and nodded slowly as he turned around to face the wall as he moved some of his bushy black hair aside as he felt around on his head trying to find the wound. Juvia gently grabbed his hand and moved it away slowly and started looking for herself. When she saw it, her eyes became sad. That was a bullet wound, and man oh man, was it gruesome just like Gray said. She had never even noticed it until now since it was buried under all of his hair. Gray glanced slightly over his shoulder and saw the expression on her face which made him know that she had seen it; that it creeped her out, "I told you," he said softly as he turned to face her, looking into her sad ocean blue pools she called her eyes with his dark blue lifeless orbs. He grabbed her small hands in his own and looked at her, not saying a single word, as much as he wanted to, he didn't know what there was to really say to her. She had seen the wound that he had tried to forget about all these years, the wound that he wanted to pretend never existed, that never happened. Juvia never knew about it, and it made him think that by her not knowing, she was treating him like a normal living, breathing human being. _She's going to treat me differently... the way I never wanted her to treat me..._

"Gray-sama..." Juvia said softly, "Juvia didn't know it was that bad."

He nodded. He couldn't figure out the words he wanted to use, the words he wanted to say. He had answers planned out in his head, but he couldn't formulate anything as a response, _come on Gray, talk to her. At least say something you jackass!_

"Did that hurt?"

_Well, that was something I wasn't expecting... _He looked down and rubbed the back of his head one more time, "well... it was so quick that I didn't even hear the gun get fired because the bullet had already been lodged in my head."

Her eyes became sad once more, even more sad than before, if that were even possible. _How... how could someone do this to Gray-sama..._ she just couldn't believe that he was dead. Maybe she didn't want to believe it. He was a person at one point in his life so why should she treat him any differently now? Sure he might be dead but from what Juvia knew about him, he still had feelings and emotions. She didn't want to treat him any differently than she would treat one of her friends, "Juvia wants to know why someone would ever do that to you. You're far too sweet to deserve the fate that you got."

"Try telling that to the sick son of a bitch who held the pistols that killed two innocent kids who just wanted to play a damn game of baseball on a rainy January day."

At that moment, Juvia really didn't know what else there was for her to say. Everything had been said between the two of them in this short morning and that also made things incredibly awkward. Gray, with all of his might, really didn't want Juvia to even see the wound he had on the back of his head, but now she had. He sat down on the chair that was behind him and looked up at her ceiling. Juvia sat down adjacent to him on the arm of her sofa and simply stared at him with her large blue eyes. Gray's hand moved into his pant pocket and he pulled out the newspaper clippings and handed them over to Juvia, not looking at her once. She took them and stared at the one on the top of the small pile, the picture of the crime scene: Gray and Lyon, both lying on the sand of the baseball diamond, Lyon on his stomach, and Gray on his back. It wasn't exactly the best way for Juvia to start out her morning, but it was something that was for sure, "read the article down below." Gray instructed her. She nodded and her eyes went to the article below the picture.

_Police are investigating a shooting which caused two deaths this evening in Magnolia. Officers responded to the Mavis Vermillion Baseball Field shortly after 4 p.m. where they found two teenage boys who had been shot, one boy shot once in the head, the other shot two times in the chest, Magnolia police spokesman Lahar said. The names of the two boys are Lyon Vastia and Gray Fullbuster, students who attended Magnolia High School. That information was given to us by a friend who wishes to remain unnamed. Lahar continued. No one has been arrested in connection with the shooting since the only two people who saw the person's face are no longer with us, he added as a final statement._

Juvia looked up at Gray who showed no emotion on his face, "go to the next one." She nodded and went to the next news article. There was no picture in this one, but it was about Ultear, and her connection to both the boys.

_The court case for the shooting of two innocent young men at the Mavis Vermillion Baseball Field is still underway. Police officers and detectives alike are still trying to find the person who was responsible for their murder. Police officials received a word from Ultear Milkovich, adoptive sister to the two boys who were the victims of this selfless shooting. 'It was a terrible thing that happened to them. They were far too young and they were taken from the world way too soon if you ask me,' she said. 'Whoever did this is someone who is sick in the head, they aren't right. I want justice to be served for my brothers. I don't care how long it takes, but I just want it to happen. Knowing they aren't here anymore just pains my heart but I know that now they're with mom and they're watching over me, keeping me safe from anything that may cause me harm,' she added on._

She looked up at Gray, "Ultear was a bitch to us so why she said that I'll never know. She hated the fact that Lyon and I were always with Ul, not including her in anything that we did. She was jealous of us growing up and by the time she was fifteen she left to live with Jellal and her friend Meredy in some rundown apartment over in Seven. She never contacted us or anything so by her making that statement to the police out of the blue is another thing that has me suspicious." He crossed his arms and finally made eye contact with Juvia who didn't have any words to say to him, "just by reading that article makes me think that she was in cahoots with that Jellal guy and they had something to do with murdering Lyon and myself."

Now Juvia was going to speak, "what do you mean by that Gray-sama?"

"I think Ultear persuaded Jellal into murdering us since, like I mentioned earlier, she was jealous of the fact that growing up Lyon and I received all the attention from her mother. And the reason why I think she made Jellal do it was so she didn't look suspicious since she was the only other 'family member' we had left around, ya know?"

She nodded. She understood, er somewhat understood, what Gray was getting at. He had a whole lot of theories going through his head about what seemed to of happened that rainy January day and he was sticking with them. She didn't really know if he was onto something, or if he was simply running off of the memories that he had in his head. Either way, she really didn't know the case behind it but she promised him that she would look into this thing for him to help him settle this whole ordeal once and for all, to finally allow him and Lyon to rest in peace, to be with their adoptive mother Ul, and to finally be at ease with the whole thing.

"I need you to do something," Gray spoke to her softly.

She raised a brow, "what is it Gray-sama?"

"I need you to try and get answers out of Jellal. I'm sure he'll spill everything he knows if you mention my name, or even Lyon's name. I mean seriously, the look that guy had on his face when he saw us made me know that something funny was going on with him."

"But Juvia doesn't know Jellal-kun all that well to really ask him, let alone just show up at his house unexpectedly."

"Damn it."

Silence grew between them, that is, until Juvia's phone rang from the other side of the couch on the end table. They looked at one another before she finally decided to answer her phone, "hello."

"Hey Juvia, it's Erza. Are you busy?" The redhead on the other end asked.

"Well no but Juvia just got up so she isn't decent," Juvia responded.

"Would you like to hang out today? Lucy and Natsu are coming over to Jellal's house and then we're going to the ice festival."

"Sure Juvia will go. Let me get ready and then Juvia will send you a text saying she's on her way."

"Okay! I'll send you Jellal's address so you have it."

"Sounds good Erza, Juvia will see you later."

The two girls hung up and Juvia looked over at Gray who was still sitting in the chair, "what'd Erza want?" He asked as he eyed her through the hair covering his eyes.

She checked her phone and saw that she had received the message from Erza, "she wants Juvia to meet her, Lucy, and Natsu at Jellal's house so everyone can hang out."

"Sounds like a good opportunity to confront Jellal if you ask me."

She nodded. She didn't feel comfortable confronting Jellal over this issue but she promised Gray that she would and she didn't want to break her promise, she never broke promises to anyone, ever. "Well Juvia is going to get ready."

"You'll talk to him right?" Gray grabbed her arm and stared into her eyes.

She nodded, "yes Gray-sama," she removed her arm from his grip, "Juvia will talk to Jellal-kun."

He gave a very soft smile, "thanks Juvia."

She nodded and made her way up the steps to take a shower and get ready to face the day. Gray however didn't really know what else there was for him to do. "I can't cook so making breakfast is out... there's nothing that needs to be cleaned so I can't clean anything. I feel like a worthless sack just sitting here doing nothing." With a sigh, he made his way up the steps to wait for Juvia.

* * *

She jumped in shock when she saw Gray sitting on her bed. If she would have known he was there, she would've had on more than just the towel she had wrapped around herself, "Gray-sama! You startled Juvia," she gave a nervous laugh as she looked at him.

"Sorry," he grinned, "I figured you heard me," he laughed. He was joking about being heard so Juvia joined him, "so how was your shower?"

"Well, it was nice. The drain is clogged though."

"I can try to fix it while you're gone if you'd like."

She hugged him, her breasts against the side of his head. _Don't be a pervert, don't be a pervert..._ He repeated over and over in his head, "thank you Gray-sama!"

"N-no pr-problem J-Ju-Juvia..." he was sweating and stuttering and Juvia didn't even notice. He had BREASTS pushed AGAINST his FACE! If that's not something to sweat and stutter over, then there's nothing to sweat over that's for sure.

"Now Juvia is going to get ready and then make herself some brunch before she heads over to Jellal-kun's house."

He nodded and didn't look at her one because he just couldn't without getting completely flustered. He knew Juvia was still in the room so he tried his best to avoid any eye contact possible until he knew she was properly dressed.

"Gray-sama, what do you think of this?" Juvia's voice sang throughout the room. He wasn't sure if she was dressed or not so he slightly glanced up from his feet.

"Th-that's nice Juvia," he responded, seeing that she was still in just a towel.

She smiled, but he didn't notice. She finished grabbing everything that she needed and exited the room. He finally looked up and let out a huge sigh of relief, "dead or not... I can still get a bit excited..." He flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling._ I just want answers and Juvia will give them to me..._ He said in his head as he smiled slightly. Before long, he was thinking again. Thinking about his past, and the day Ul was taken from him and Lyon... What a horrible, horrible day...

* * *

_Ten years ago (September):_

_Lyon had just gotten his driver's license, and Gray was free of his braces forever. He was sitting in the back of the car looking at all the wonderful pictures of Erza in the many different dresses that she liked. __**Why does she want me to decide? She looks gorgeous in all of them... **__He thought when he read her message asking which dress he liked the most._

_"Who're you talking to back there Gray? You've been awfully quiet," Ul joked with him as she looked back from the front passenger seat of the car to give her youngest adoptive son a smile._

_"Probably his friends about their Homecoming group," Lyon chimed in._

_"Homecoming? Gray, I didn't know you planned on going to Homecoming."_

_The raven haired young man groaned, "yes. I plan on going with a small group of friends. What's the big deal about me going?"_

_"To be perfectly honest Gray, sweetheart, you don't seem like the type of person who would go to a dance. You've never gone to one before have you?" Ul asked with a raised brow._

_"Nope," and with that being said he pulled all of his attention back to his phone._

_"He's going with Erza, Lucy, and his buddy Natsu, the kid who messed up Gray's mouth."_

_"Oh," Ul rolled her eyes, "him." Even she wasn't a fan of him which was something that Gray found enjoyable, "anyway Lyon, are you going to this dance?"_

_He shrugged, "not a clue. I haven't decided yet."_

_Gray snickered slightly to himself and mumbled, "no one's asked him."_

_"What was that?" Lyon snarled and glared back at his younger brother._

_"LYON!" Ul smacked his arm and sounded furious, "PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD!" She pointed ahead of him._

_"Yes ma'am," Lyon grumbled and turned all of his focus back to the road ahead of him. In the rearview mirror, Lyon caught a glimpse of Gray smiling and taking a picture of himself, "what're you doing back there Gray?"_

_"Taking a picture of me without the braces," he responded as he looked at the picture he had just taken._

_Lyon rolled his eyes and said nothing more to his younger brother. Infact, no one said anything to anyone for quite some time. Maybe it was so Lyon could focus on driving, or maybe it was because the boys could tell that Ul was somewhat furious with them, er, mostly Lyon for not paying attention earlier._

_The silence had put Gray to sleep. Well, until he heard Ul yelling, "LYON WATCH OUT!" And Gray's eyes shot open only to find Lyon swerving from a car that was coming right at them._

_"LYON!" Gray yelled when he finally realized what was going on. The idiot who was driving at them was way drunk and Lyon had lost control of the car he was driving. Before the three knew it they were off the road and then... right into a tree. Lyon's head his the steering wheel, and Gray got jerked forward, his head hitting the back of the front passenger seat, and then jerking him back. The car tumbled down a ditch and then, it stopped._

_"Lyon! Lyon you okay?!" Gray was panicking with all the consciousness he had left._

_No answer._

_"Lyon?!"_

_Still nothing._

_"Mom?!"_

_Nope. Not a thing. He didn't know what all there was for him to do. He couldn't reach his phone, and he couldn't get free. He didn't know if everyone was fine or what the deal was but he just couldn't stay calm to save his life._

_As the time ticked by, the medics were getting everyone out of the car, which was completely totaled._

_Gray mumbled a bunch of nothings to himself as he laid on the stretcher the medics had put him on, along with Lyon. He hadn't seen a stretcher with Ul but at the same time, he was too shaken up to really pay attention to his surroundings. Everything was such a blur to him, but Gray snapped from his daze when Lyon made a grunting noise, "Lyon?"_

_"Nice... to know... you... you aren't d-...dead," Lyon mumbled softly through breaths and gave a small thumbs up._

_The medics lifted Gray's stretcher into the ambulance and he looked around in a rather dazed state of mind. His right arm was in a sling, and his left leg was elevated slightly which meant that he was in fact injured, "hey... hey wh-what happened?" He asked the medics with a raised brow._

_"You need to rest. Everything will be explained when you come to at the hospital," said the young nurse who was tending to him._

_Gray didn't fight back, he just listened because he was far too tired to put up a fight. Instead he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep..._

* * *

"Gray-sama," Juvia nudged his shoulder slightly to wake him up.

Gray blinked a few times before he propped himself up with his elbows on her bed, "what's up?" He asked.

"Juvia is going to Jellal-kun's now."

"Ah okay. Well have fun with everyone," he gave her a soft smile.

She nodded and smiled back in return, "Juvia shall."

He watched her walk down the stairs to her house, and he heard the front door close. He was now all alone with nothing but his thoughts, "I'll meet you again one day Ul... I'm getting closer..."

* * *

**Author's note: **My god! I never thought this chapter was going to get done. I mean seriously I was working on this for so long. It's done and over with now though.  
Anyway, I'm still curious to know what you guys think about who killed them. My offer still stands for the person who guesses correctly so guess away!  
Don't you guys feel bad for Gray? I just had to throw in that tidbit about Ul because it's just... aww ): talk about tragic right? You guys will find out more about what happened with that whole situation later I suppose, and if the memories are boring for you guys please tell me. I can write a whole new fiction just explain the backstory to this one if that makes life easier. I mean, it'll take place up until the boys died of course.  
Anyway, let me know all of your thoughts and review away!(:


	8. Chapter 8

Juvia arrived at Jellal's house after she spend a good thirty minutes of just looking for it. It wasn't until she passed it for the fifth time did she actually notice Erza's car sitting in the driveway. She felt silly for not realizing that a lot sooner. She pulled in behind Erza's car and got out. She sighed, remembering that she had told Gray that should would confront Jellal about the whole thing with him and Lyon but it was just weird to her. Seriously. For starters she barely even knew this guy. She approached the front door and rang the bell. She hardly waited a second before the door opened up.

"Hey," Erza greeted with a smile, "come on in."

Juvia walked inside and Erza shut the door behind her, "Jellal's playing some video game in the living room. I'll join you two when I'm done with my shower."

"Shower?"

Erza nodded, "yeah. The hot water tank at my apartment is busted so I'm taking one here," Erza started up the steps, "oh yeah. Lucy and Natsu will be here at some point. Lucy sent me a text not too long ago saying that Natsu's motion sickness was acting up so she had stop driving until he felt better."

"Oh."

Erza nodded, "get to know Jellal. He's a very sweet guy." The redhead finished walking up the steps, and Juvia went to speak with Jellal who was sitting in the living room. She entered the living room where she saw Erza's blue haired boyfriend playing some sort of game just like Erza had said. She couldn't tell what it was but it sure did look violent; a man shooting things, and using a sword on some ugly ass creatures. _What in the world is Jellal-kun playing?_ As Juvia approached, Jellal paused his game and greeted her with a smile.

"Hey Juvia," he waved.

"Hello Jellal-kun," Juvia responded as she sat down on the couch that sat opposite the recliner Jellal was sitting on, "how're you?"

"Pretty good, and yourself?"

"Fine."

Silence. Juvia didn't want to bring anything up yet. Jellal looked up at the ceiling and grinned, "Erza must be starting her shower now."

Juvia nodded. She _really_ didn't want to bring anything up with Lucy and Natsu on their way but she didn't know if another opportunity would be presented. She sighed and just decided to do it, "Jellal-kun, may Juvia ask you something?"

"Sure," he took a sip of his pop and set the game controller down on the arm of the chair, "ask anything you want."

"A few nights back when everyone visited the tree after getting sushi you asked if Juvia saw _them_."

"He raised a brow, "yes?"

"Well Juvia saw them too."

_So I'm not crazy..._ "you did?"

"Yes. Juvia sees them very often and she sees them because Gray-sama wants Juvia to help him find out who really killed them and Juvia really wants to know."

"Really?"

She nodded, "yes, but how could you see them Jellal-kun?"

He sighed and took another sip of his drink, "I was there."

"What?" _Is Gray-sama's theory right? But wait a second, why would he admit being there if he __**did**__ kill them?_

"I was there, however I arrived too late. The boy with white hair was already dead. He tried running and got shot twice in the back. The one with black hair was the gun in his mouth. I tried reasoning with the gunman but they pointed a gun in my direction and said that if I moved I would die too," he stopped talking briefly and looked at her.

"Jellal-kun, please tell Juvia who killed them," the bluenette girl asked him.

"I- I can't."

"Why not?"

"They said that if I told anyone that they would know, and they would come after me and 'it wouldn't end well.'"

"Jellal-kun, we're alone. They'll never know and that's something Juvia promises."

He sighed and looked around before he stood and walked over to Juvia, sitting next to her, "okay, it was..."

"Hey guys!" Lucy's voice chimed throughout the whole house. Juvia's left eye began to twitch and Jellal let out a sigh and planted his head into a palm, "sorry it took us so long but Natsu got sick and threw up on the side of the road," the blonde glared at her pink haired boyfriend.

"Not my fault I have motion sickness!" He crossed his arms, "plus you drive like a maniac."

"What'd you say Natsu?"

"You heard me..."

"Hey guys," Erza had now joined them, and it was probably the perfect moment, "when did you get here?"

"Just now," Lucy responded.

"Ah," the redhead joined Jellal and Juvia on the couch, "what'd you two talk about?"

"Um," Jellal started.

"Jellal-kun told Juvia all about the game he was playing," Juvia smiled.

"That was nice of him."

Natsu heard the word 'game' and it had his full attention, "hey cool! Is that the new D-"

"Yes," Jellal said before Natsu could even finish his question.

Erza smiled at the group and then pulled all of her attention to Juvia, who looked flustered, "you okay Juvia?"

"Eh? Oh. Yes. Juvia is fine," the blue haired young lady gave a soft, almost fake, smile.

Erza raised a brow but then brushed off Juvia's behavior as nothing, "so who's ready for the ice festival?"

"Are we walking? I don't think I can handle being in a car, especially not if Lucy's driving, she's a maniac!" Natsu responded.

"NATSU!" Lucy yelled as she whacked her boyfriend over the head with her fist.

"Ow! Luce! What was that for?!"

"Stop saying I drive like a maniac!"

"I only speak the truth!"

Erza narrowed her eyes and sighed, "HEY!"

The blonde and the pinkette both stopped their bickering and looked at the redhead, as did both the bluenettes, so Erza continued, "I planned on walking since finding a place to park would be ridiculously impossible."

"Good point," Natsu said.

"So are we ready to go?"

Everyone nodded. Erza threw Jellal his house keys and the group left._Juvia wonders who Jellal-kun was going to say..._ Juvia wondered over and over again. She was so close to knowing, and that was what was killing her.

* * *

**Author's note**: Sorry that this chapter is so short but I had to work on it while working on my school work and I was somewhat stressed out. Nonetheless this chapter is done and out of the way. Now that I'm on break for school I'll attempt to upload more but once school starts back up again I'll be there all day on Tuesdays so my upload day might have to get changed to Wednesday but I'll play everything by ear.

Now you all know something: Jellal is innocent, but now that makes you all have to wonder who really did kill the boys? It might make it easier to guess now but I'm not really sure. Just remember that everyone is a suspect who was around when it happened.  
On yeah, the game that Jellal was playing was the new Devil May Cry game (might write a DMC fanfic in the near-future. Still don't know).  
Sorry I'm making this so suspenseful but I absolutely love this story and I want to make it last for a while. Anyway, you guys keep guessing and reviewing. Also, please let me know if you guys want a prequel story to this. Love you all!(:


	9. Chapter 9

Everything at the ice festival was so gorgeous. All the ice was cut so beautifully into all sorts of unique things such as horses, butterflies, and even a chair! A chair large enough for someone to sit on! Juvia admired every last detail of every single sculpture she looked at.

"Gray loved coming here," Erza said softly to Juvia, who didn't even realize that the redhead was behind her.

"What?" Juvia turned to face her friend.

"Gray. He absolutely adored coming here every year. The boy had a thing for cold weather, and he always told me that one day he would carve an ice sculpture."

"Oh."

Erza nodded, "you probably would've liked him Juvia, he was so sweet."

_Juvia knows Gray-sama..._ "really?"

"Yeah..." her voice trailed off, "I miss him Ju-"

"Juvia," said a deep voice that came from behind her.

The bluenette turned and instantly her face lit up with a smile, "Gajeel-kun!" She hugged him briefly before he pushed her off of him.

"You know I don't like that kind of shit Juvia."

"Sorry, but Juvia is just excited to see you again!"

"Uh, who's your friend Juvia?" Erza asked.

"Oh right," Juvia smiled at Erza, "Erza-san, this is Gajeel-kun. He's Juvia's best friend and he has been since high school."

She waved slightly, "hello."

"Pleasure," Gajeel responded with a scoff as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, well, I'll just let you two catch up," Erza smiled sweetly at Juvia as she walked off.

Juvia walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, motioning for Gajeel to sit next to her by patting the rest of the bench to her left. The black haired man rolled his eyes but made no objection. He walked over to her and sat, well more like slouched, next to her and crossed his arms, "so what brings you to Magnolia Gajeel-kun?"

"The autobody shop I worked at closed down so I got a job down here. I got a small apartment. Landlord said no one's lived there since the two kids who owned it died; both shot. Everything they had was still hanging out there, pictures, furniture, clothes, everything. Now why in the hell would I need some pictures and clothes that belonged to some dead guys? The furniture itself is really nice though so I'm keeping that since everything I own is pretty beat to shit," he explained, "I've also been datin' this shrimp of a librarian in town for a while. I had her help me unpack my shit n' she asked to take the pictures of the guys,"

Juvia's eyes widened, _Gray-sama..._

"Said she knew 'em so I let 'er keep the pictures. We packed 'em all up into one of the boxes I had my shit in and now she's got 'em." He looked over at his friend, "so what exactly have you been doin' since high school?"

"Well, Juvia finished college and then moved to Magnolia for a change in scenery. Juvia likes it a lot and has so many wonderful friends now."

"Datin' anyone?"

She sighed, "no. Juvia just can't find the right guy..." _who's alive..._

"Don't worry Juvs, you'll find someone who's good enough for ya."

"Thank you Gajeel-kun."

He messed up his friend's hair and then he stood, "gimme a call sometime. Right now I gotta get the shrimp some hot chocolate. Later," he gave a small wave and walked off. Juvia stood with a small smile on her face and then proceeded to walk off towards the direction that Erza had walked earlier.

* * *

"Why'd you hit me?!" Natsu rubbed his head.

"This is mint chocolate hot chocolate!" Lucy explained in a loud voice.

"Yeah, so?"

"I wanted french vanilla hot chocolate you idiot!"

"You just said to 'buy you some hot chocolate.' You never said what kind you wanted!"

Erza and Jellal just listened to the young couple bicker, as usual, "will they ever stop?" Erza asked Jellal in a joking tone as she laughed slightly and nudged his arm before she grabbed his hand in her own. All Jellal did was simply shrug, "is everything okay with you? Seriously Jellal, ever since we left your house you've been quiet."

He nodded and softly responded, "I'm fine."

The redhead raised a brow, "are you sure?"

He nodded once more but said nothing in response.

_Something isn't right with him..._ "look Jellal if something is bothering you then I want you to te-"

"Hey Jellal," a voice chimed. It was so unfamiliar to everyone, except for Jellal, and it was one that Erza had heard a few times in her life, "oh and hi to you as well Erza."

Jellal's face was white and his green eyes were wide. Erza released her boyfriend's hand and crossed her arms; she turned to face the person speaking, "Ultear. What a nice surprise."

"It's been a while," she responded, "how've you been Erza? Jellal?"

"Fine."

Jellal said nothing. He was just frozen, minus the trembling of his hands/ A cold bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Jellal?" Ultear said once more.

"Jellal, are you okay?" Erza placed a hand on his shoulder hoping for some kind of response.

"Ultear, m-may I sp-speak with you?" He finally managed to stutter out.

"Um, sure...?"

He removed Erza's hand from his shoulder and turned, walking towards the purpled haired woman. She followed once he walked past her. Erza watched as the two walked through the crowd.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked.

"Ultear," Erza explained, "she's Ul's daughter which made her Gray and Lyon's sister."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Gray and Lyon had a sister?" Natsu was shocked.

Erza nodded, "yeah."

"There you all are," Juvia had now joined them.

"Hey Juvia," Lucy smiled.

"What've you all been doing?"

"Ultear and Jellal are talking," Natsu responded.

_Gray-sama and Lyon-san's sister?_

"Natsu, Juvia has no idea who Ultear is," Erza stated. She then turned her attention to Juvia, "she was Gray and Lyon's sister."

"Oh," Juvia responded, although she already knew.

* * *

Jellal had led Ultear through the crowd until he knew he was at a safe distance from everyone he had arrived with.

"Where exactly are we going?" Ultear asked him.

"Right here," he turned to face her, "I saw _them_."

She raised a brow and crossed her arms, "who?"

"_Them_ Ultear, your brothers."

"Jellal, I think you've forgotten. They're both _dead._"

"No Ultear, I remember that much."

"So how could you see them exactly? Care to enlighten me?"

"The baseball field. Their spirits are still there. Know why Ultear?"

"Uh, no? Should I know?"

"It's because they want answers Ultear. They want to know who killed them."

"Why're you telling me this?"

"You know exactly why I'm telling you this."

"No one knows who killed them Jellal."

"Oh no? You and I _both_ know exactly who did it."

She said nothing. She simply stared at him.

"So either you come clean about who did it or I will. I can't live with this hanging over my head so I don't very well know how you can," he pushed past her to return to Erza and the others. Ultear said something under her breath before carrying on her way.

* * *

The group had seated themselves outside a small café at a small table.

"Hey," Jellal said softly as he approached.

"Hey," Erza smiled, "got you some hot chocolate."

"Thanks," he kissed her cheek as he sat down next to her. He glanced over at Juvia and his eyes locked with hers, for she was already staring at him.

"What'd you talk to Ultear about?"

"What?" Apparently Erza's question caught him off guard.

"Ultear. What did you talk about with her?"

"Oh, um, it was... it was nothing," he took a sip of his drink.

His girlfriend raised a brow, _he's a horrible liar_, "okay then."

"Hey Jellal, do you have the new Tomb Raider game?" Natsu asked randomly out of the blue.

"Going to buy it once I get paid," the blue haired man responded, "why?"

"Cuz I wanna know if it's any good before I go buy it, ya know?"

"Then I'll be sure to let you know if it's worth the buy."

"Thanks man."

Natsu smiled, which then caused everyone else to smile since it was contagious. Juvia however still had a lot on her mind. _Juvia will find out... for Gray-sama and Lyon-san's sake..._

* * *

**Author's note: **So much is happening right now! Is it making you wonder who did kill them? Let me know who you think! It's like one of those murder mystery things that restaurants have ya know? (The one who guesses correctly gets a fanfiction written for them.)

Oh yeah, you all have also learned something about Gajeel (now that you've actually met him), he lives in Lyon and Gray's old apartment. Oh, and I guess you're all met Ultear now too huh? Love her? Hate her? Leave your reviews and I'll see you all next Tuesday.


	10. Chapter 10

The day had finally come to a close and Juvia couldn't of been happier. Sure she enjoyed spending the day with her friends but she really just wanted to go back home and see Gray, tell him about what she had learned from Jellal. She entered her house only to be welcomed by Gray, who was sitting on the couch watching T.V.

"Hello Gray-sama," Juvia smiled.

"Hey," he quickly turned off the television and looked at her, "what'd you find out?"

"Well, Juvia found out that Jellal-kun is innocent, however he was there."

"What?"

"Jellal-kun didn't kill you or Lyon-san. He showed up to stop whoever it was that killed you and Lyon but he had arrived too late because he said he showed up after Lyon-san had already been shot."

"So... so he know who _did_ do it then?" Gray pondered that thought for a moment before he snapped his fingers and looked at Juvia, "and whoever _did_ do it was probably close with him too, otherwise how else would he would have known it was going to happen?"

Juvia nodded, "he's scared to say who did it though."

"Huh?" Gray raised a brow, "why?"

"The gunman said that if he told anybody that they would know and that they would kill him."

"Damn it..."

"BUT," Gray looked at Juvia, "but he almost told Juvia. He was so close to telling me their name too."

"So why didn't he?"

"Well he and Juvia were alone when he almost said who had done it but Lucy and Natsu interrupted the conversation which, as a result, caused Jellal-kun to grow silent and not say anything else."

He mumbled under his breath, "fuckin' Lucy." Thankfully for him, Juvia didn't hear a word.

"Juvia is sorry she didn't find out any more than that," tears swelled in her eyes.

"Ju-Juvia! D-don't cry," he didn't handle crying women too well, "it's okay. Really. You found out a lot and I thank you."

She wiped away the lone tear that had fallen, "you're welcome Gray-sama."

He gave her a soft grin.

"Juvia bumped into an old friend today at the ice festival."

"Oh?"

She nodded with a smile, "mmhmm."

"Who?"

"Gajeel. Juvia went to highschool with him," she walked over to her mantle and grabbed a picture. Gray followed her, "that's him." She pointed to a man with long, spiky black hair, red eyes and a lot of piercings.

"He looks familiar," and Gray wasn't just saying that because he had a bunch of Juvia's old pictures of her and him on display in the attic but that wasn't how he looked familiar, "did he play some kind of sport in school?"

She nodded, "Gajeel-kun played football for Phantom Lord High School. He was the best player our team had and he was unstoppable."

_Phantom Lord?!_ "They were my school's biggest rivals in just about everything. I didn't know you went there."

"Juvia really loved having a friend like Gajeel-kun in high school. He was the only one who didn't make fun of Juvia," she placed the picture back down and had a small smile on her face.

He grinned. He loved learning new things about Juvia that he had never known before, "oh before I forget, I fixed the drain in your tub. It was just clogged is all."

She hugged him, "thank," she yawned, "you."

"Tired? And you're welcome."

"Just a bit. It's been a long day for Juvia."

Without a warning, he scooped her up bridal style in his arms and carried her up the steps. All she could do was blush at his sweet, and of course unexpected, gesture. He was so good to her, the perfect man for her, well, minus the dead thing... Just thinking about all of that upset her. Gray placed her down on her bed and noticed the tears in her eyes, "hey, what's wrong?" He sat next to her and placed a hand on her knee.

"Oh," she wiped away the tears, "it's nothing. Juvia is just fine."

He raised a brow, "you're lying to me Juvia. Now come on, what's wrong?"

She took a deep breath, "it's... it's because... because..."

"Because...?"

"BecauseJuvialovesGray-sama!" She spat out so quick that what she had said barely clicked to him. Suddenly, more tears rolled down her cheeks.

Gray stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights, _how do I respond to something like that?_ "Juvia listen, I..." he started but the words after that just didn't come.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "Juvia apologizes for her sudden outburst," she wiped away some of the tears, "it's just that Juvia has never felt so strongly about someone before but it's just that Gray-sama is so kind and caring towards Juvia," she sighed and looked away from him, "Juvia feels silly for having these feelings but-"

He placed a hand over her mouth, "now Juvia I want you to listen to me, okay?"

She simply nodded.

"Don't be ashamed of your feelings, they can't be helped. Due to the circumstances we can't truly be together but please know and understand that I do care for you a lot."

Her waterworks started again.

"But no matter what happens I'll always be in your heart and I'll always protect and watch over you. You are an amazing person Juvia and any man should be proud to have you in his life. I'm glad I get to call you _friend_," he removed his hand from her face and smiled, wiping away more of her tears.

She smiled softly and hugged him tightly, "Juvia is glad she can call Gray-sama a friend as well," she lifted her head up and softly kissed his cheek.

"Juvia?" He asked quizzically.

She said nothing as she got comfortable under the blankets on her bed. He watched as she drifted off into a deep slumber; he gave a soft smile. He removed himself from her bed and began to leave but he stopped, looking over his shoulder and walking back to her, "sleep well Juvia," he kissed her cheek gently and watched a small smile form on her face. He moved some of her hair and put it behind her ear, "I... I love you."

* * *

**Author's note**: Sorry I ended it there! (don't hate me!) But you know, I felt as if I had to, it was just such a cute moment! Anyway, things are all going to start coming together soon enough which is actually sort of saddening to me. Leave your feedback, tell me who you think did it now that you all know more information, and leave more lovely reviews because they make me so happy. Love you all! OH AND HAPPY GRUVIA WEEK!(:


	11. Chapter 11

Jellal was reckless as he laid next to Erza in bed. All he could do was toss and turn until he finally ended up laying on his side, looking out the window.

"Jellal," Erza said softly as she twirled a strand of his hair on her index finger. She knew that something was wrong with him.

"Mm?" He didn't move from his side.

"What's going on with you? You've been acting strange all day and I want to know what's going on and I want to know NOW!"

He turned to look at her by rolling over and then propping himself up with his elbow, "I'm just thinking is all."

"Thinking about what?"

He sighed, "everything," he sat up and rubbed the nape of his neck as he looked down at his bare torso, "I've held a lot inside over the years but now all it's doing is eating me up inside."

"Jellal," Erza sat up as well and placed a hand on his back, "you can tell me what's wrong, okay? I simply want to help."

He looked over at her, "I was there when Gray and Lyon died."

Erza's eyes grew wide, but it wasn't in a good way. Her eyes grew wide with anger, "you WHAT?!"

"Hold on Erza, please let me explain everything to you."

The anger quickly disappeared from her eyes, "I'm listening."

"I know who did it."

Erza's brown eyes now filled with sorrow, "who did it?" Her voice was soft, "I need to know."

"It was..."_ bzzz... bzzz... bzzz_. His phone vibrated on the end table on his side of the bed, "damn it..." he mumbled, "hold on Erza." He grabbed his phone and answered it as he got out of bed, "hello?"

"_Did you mean that?_" Said the voice on the other end.

"What?" He left his room and walked into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

"_Earlier today. You said you would rather die than keep who killed Fullbuster and Vastia a secret. Is that information true?_"

He was silent for a moment before the voice that was disguised became familiar to him, "this has gone on long enough! Kill me if you must but this is something that must be known to the public and I will tell at least one other person. Gray and Lyon's friends have every single right to kn-"

"_NO! Tell a single soul and I WILL kill you. Understand me Jellal Fernandes?_"

"I..." he thought about how desperate Erza was, and how badly Juvia wanted to know for Gray and Lyon's sake, "I understand."

"_Good,_" and then there was nothing on the other end of his phone besides dead air. He sighed before he returned to his bedroom.

"What was that about?" Erza asked as Jellal crawled back into bed, phone still in hand. He said not a word. "Jellal?"

Still remaining silent, he typed something up on his phone and handed it over to her.

"What is this?" She took the phone and read what he had typed, "seriously Jellal what is this? I don't understand."

He took the phone from her and began typing up some more.

"Jellal this is ridiculous! Please just tell me who did this. I really want to know."

He erased everything he had just typed up before and began typing up something completely different. Once done, he handed the phone back to Erza.

"Is this...?" Erza asked.

He nodded. Erza quickly got out of bed and grabbed the jacket that was closest to her, grabbed her phone off the dresser and put on her slippers. "I'll be back," she spoke, still holding his phone in her hands, close to her heart.

"Er-" he started.

"I need to visit Gray's grave."

"Instead of going to his grave go to Juvia's."

"Wh-what?"

"Gray. You know how you and your friends planted that tree? Well, his spirit, according to Juvia, is in her house."

"So... so Juvia... she... she knows him?" Her voice was soft as she took in what he had just said.

"Yes she does. She's trying to help him too, so earlier today before we left for the ice festival and you were showering, I told her everything I just told you however I didn't get to say who it was since Lucy and Natsu showed up right as I was about to."

"That's why you've been acting strange all day?"

He nodded, "don't say that name out loud. My life is on the line here Erza."

"What?"

"I'll explain later. Go see Juvia. Talk to Gray. I'll be here waiting for you."

"Come with me."

He raised a brow, "what?"

"Come with me. Please."

Slowly, he nodded at her. He got back out of bed, quickly throwing on a shirt and a pair of pajama pants and his old sneakers before he followed Erza down the steps and out of his house. Their destination? Juvia Lockser's house to put this whole murder mystery to rest.

* * *

**Author's note**: I hope this chapter wasn't too random and out of place but I, for some reason, wanted to include it. Jellal has finally told someone! So now, before the next chapter goes up I want you all to guess for yourselves: who did it?

One more thing, do you all want a prequel to this? I think it would be fun to write but I want to know if people would actually read it.

Anyway, leave your thoughts and reviews. I look forward to reading them all!


	12. Chapter 12

It was close to two in the morning when Erza and Jellal arrived at Juvia's house. It was dark inside, which of course made the two draw the conclusion that Juvia's was probably asleep, as most normal people should be.

"I figured as much," Erza pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and quickly, she dialed Juvia's number. She waited patiently for her friend to pick up, "come on Juvia, answer."

"Hello?" Juvia asked sleepily with a yawn.

"I understand that it's late but I have something important to say and it just couldn't wait," Erza explained.

Juvia yawned again, "hold on then," she hung up.

Erza began walking towards Juvia's door and motioned for Jellal to follow. He nodded and began walking after her, only to see that Juvia was already downstairs and opening the door.

"Hello Erza-san, Jellal-kun," she rubbed her eyes and allowed the two inside her home.

They walked in and Erza sat down in the chair while Jellal stood. Juvia proceeded to sit down on the couch and she looked at the two of them, "what is it you needed to talk about Erza-san?"

She, still holding Jellal's phone in her hand, looked at her boyfriend and then back to Juvia, "it's about Gray and Lyon," she held the phone out to her. Juvia was puzzled, but she took the phone. She didn't seem to understand the whole situation, mainly because she was half asleep, and partially because she really had no idea what was going on.

"Now before you say anything allow me to explain," Jellal spoke softly. Juvia looked at him, "that's who killed them."

"Why?" Juvia asked. She actually had to double take at the name that was displayed on the phone's screen.

"Simple," Jellal looked fown, "jealously and hatred. Before the whole ordeal happened I was told that they planned on doing it. Personally, I thought they were kidding so I didn't really consider it to be anything. And then just like that, out of the blue-"

The stairs creaked, which caught hold of everyone's attention. Erza's eyes, that looked so sad just moments before, lit up, "Gr-Gray?"

"Oh, h-hey Erza," he responded with a soft grin. "Why're you here this late?"

"Gray-sama," Juvia spoke, "I know who killed you and Lyon-san thanks to Erza-san and Jellal-kun."

"You... you do?" He looked at her.

Juvia nodded. Gray then pulled all of his attention to Erza and Jellal, "who? Who did it?"

"Ultear," Juvia's voice was quiet.

"What?"

"Allow me to explain," Jellal spoke.

Gray looked at him, "you were there."

Jellal nodded and he opened his mouth to speak but Gray beat him to it, "I remember."

* * *

_Eleven years ago (January):_

_"I don't think Natsu's showing up, Gray," Lyon spoke as he threw the baseball in his hand to his brother._

_"He's not very good with time," Gray responded as he caught the baseball,_

_"Obviously."_

_The two continued their banter back and forth, throwing the baseball to one another._

_"The rain seems to have cleared up some," Lyon grinned._

_Gray nodded. The rain never really bothered him much anyway. Then, as Lyon caught the ball that Gray had thrown to him, the two stopped what they were doing._

_"I hear something," Lyon spoke with a nervous tone in his voice._

_Gray nodded and his eyes scanned their surroundings, "nice to know I'm not hearing things." When Gray's eyes stopped on a certain figure, Lyon turned to see what he was looking at. When the figure came into view, Gray couldn't help but scoff, "oh, it's you."_

_"You're so nice to your big sister, Gray," the woman wearing the hood gave a malicious grin towards the two boys._

_"You aren't exactly the nicest to us in all honestly, Ultear. I mean really," Lyon responded in a cold tone as he walked over to Gray and stood behind him._

_"Oh zip it Lyon," she spat back at him, "now I'm here for one reason and one reason alone."_

_"And what reason is that?" Gray asked as he pulled a cigarette and a lighter out of his pant's pocket. Ultear watched as he lit it and then placed the lighter back in his pocket. Without a word, the woman pulled out a pistol, pointing it at the two._

_"Whoa, whoa! Calm down Ultear," Lyon tried to reason with her._

_"Okay, what the hell is this Ultear?" Gray asked as he blew smoke out of his nostrils._

_"You two took my mother away from me!" She yelled loudly, "if she wasn't with you two when you had that accident then she wouldn't be dead right now!"_

_"That accident wasn't Lyon's fault!" Gray spat back at her, "I mean really Ultear, if you're so pissed off about that accident this much then why the hell don't you go after that son of a bitch who did kill your mother? We did absolutely nothing wrong."_

_"Gray!" Lyon needed to stop his brother before he got himself shot._

_Ultear only grinned slyly._

_"Seriously, I'm going to get help," Lyon started to run off but barely managed to get ten feet away before Ultear pointed the gun at him and shot it twice, hitting him in the back. Lyon fell to the ground and suddenly his body was surrounded by a pool of his own blood._

_"LYON!" Gray yelled before he pulled all his attention to his dead brother, and then he glared over at Ultear with anger brewing in his eyes, "what the hell did you do that for you cold hearted, statistic bitch?!"_

_She took four long strides before she reached Gray, parting his lips with the pistol, positioning it firmly in his mouth. His cigarette fell to his feet and Ultear stepped on it._

_"Ultear," Gray spoke with fury in his voice._

_"Uh uh uh," she wagged her index finger back and forth, "you move or say a single word, I'll shoot. Trust me Gray, that's a promise." She glared into his eyes._

_"Ultear!" A voice cried out from someone who was running down the street. The purple haired woman scoffed, not even turning around to face the voice's owner._

_"Oh, it's only you," she sounded cold._

_"Ultear you ca-" He noticed Lyon's lifeless body laying on the ground, "I'm too la-"_

_"Looks like you're too late... Jellal."_

_Jellal looked at Gray, who was looking right back at him, his dark blue eyes were wide and filled with fear._

_"Ultear this is just insane. Killing..." he remembered that Lyon was already dead, "killing Gray won't solve anything, and killing Lyon obviously didn't do anything either."_

_"They killed my mother Jellal! That's unforgivable!"_

_"Ultear," he began walking towards her, slowly._

_"Stop," she didn't even look at him as she pulled out another pistol and pointed it right at him, "move and I'll shoot you too. You can speak all you want though however, but don't you dare move."_

_He gulped, "okay Ultear, listen to me. Gray, nor Lyon, killed your mother. Why do you feel this urge to kill them?"_

_"Thye stole her away from me as a child Jellal. Gray and Lyon got all of her attention and that simply killed me inside. They stole my mother away and I can never forgive them for that." She turned to face him, still holding the gun in Gray's mouth, "you don't get it do you?"_

_"I'm trying to reason with you. Seriously Ultear, look what you did to Lyon. Look at Gray. Ultear, put the guns down."_

_With her attention all pulled towards Jellal, Gray took this as his golden opportunity to get himself free. He balled one of his hands into a fist and lifted it to swing at her face but he never even got the chance to make contact. Jellal's eyes widened as he watched Gray fall backwards into the dirt._

_"Ultear... why?" Jellal asked._

_Sirens could be heard in the distance. Ultear began to panic and then she started to run away from the scene of the crime with Jellal right on her tail, "tell anyone about any of this Jellal Fernandes, and I'll kill you."_

* * *

"That's... that's awful," Juvia spoke softly.

"I was scared," Gray responded, "I've never been that scared before in all my life," he rubbed the back of his head and felt where the bullet had made contact with the back of his skull.

"That's horrible," Erza said.

"Ultear doesn't let it bother her at all. I saw her at the ice festival and she was acting as if nothing was wrong," Jellal explained.

"Wait, you've actually seen her recently?" Gray asked as he raised a brow.

He nodded, "yeah/"

Now Gray was angry, "pardon me," and instantly, just like that, he was gone.

"Gray," Erza's voice was soft.

Juvia smiled, "he loved you very much Erza-san."

She smiled softly. Her heart was at ease, but now she wanted Ultear convicted of the crime she had committed, "we need to get her to confess."

"Leave that to me," Jellal spoke.

Gray had now returned with Lyon right at his side. As Jellal noticed their return, he began to explain what he was thinking to everyone.

"Think that'll work?" Lyon asked, puzzled.

"It better, otherwise I'm completely out of ideas," Jellal responded.

Gray grinned, as did Lyon. Juvia seemed pleased and Erza kept her eyes locked on Gray, knowing he was finally at peace with himself.

* * *

**Author's note**: There you have it. This story is coming to a close soon so I hope everyone has been enjoying it so far. Anyway, continue to leave your reviews. Love you all so much and I'll see you again next week.


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone was asleep in Juvia's living room, Juvia was in the recliner while Jellal and Erza were on the couch in each other's arms. Gray was seated on the steps that led upstairs just watching over everyone while Lyon sat at the kitchen table.

"Why don't you just talk to Erza?" Lyon spoke softly as he looked at Erza's sleeping figure, and then back to Gray.

"What do I say to her?" Gray responded with a sigh.

"Anything you want to say to her. Just go and talk to her, catch up. I'm sure a lot has happened in eleven year."

Slowly, Gray stood. Lyon had a point, a very good point. With shaky legs he walked over to the redhead asleep in her boyfriend's arms, "Erza," he gently nudged her shoulder, "Erza."

"Nn?" She opened one eye partially and looked at him, "Gray?"

"Let's talk."

Cautiously, she removed Jellal's arm from her shoulder and she stood. She looked down at Jellal, still asleep and that made her smile, "I didn't want to wake him."

Gray said nothing as he walked towards the steps, Erza followed closely behind. He led her up to the attic and proceeded to stand by the window and she sat down in the chair.

"How're things?" He asked.

"Fine," she responded, "so um, what's up?"

He glanced at her, saying nothing.

"Gray, I asked what's up," she seemed irritated with the silence that Gray was giving her.

He scoffed, "typical."

"What?"

"Nothing, just forget it."

Silence dawned upon the two of them yet again. All they did was stare at one another. After a long while, Erza finally spoke, "Gray."

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember when I told you about my college plans?"

"What the hell brou-"

"Don't avoid my question, answer me. Do you remember?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember how mad at me you were that you avoided me for about a week?"

"Yep, sure do."

She pursed her lips together, "this has bothered me for a long time so I want you to answer me honestly, okay?"

He nodded and crossed his arms, "fine."

"Would you of dumped me?"

He raised a brow, "what?"

"Would you of dumped me?"

"Erza this is just ridi-"

"I want to know Gray."

He turned his back to her and a small sigh escaped his lips as he started to remember the day she told him about her future plans...

* * *

_Ten years ago (December):_

_The boys were finally free of the hospital, and their physical therapy that they had to attend ever since the car accident that took Ul away from them and left them with horrible scars and injuries. They were finally back at school, although their winter break was nearing closer, they needed to be caught up on the work they were behind on. Gray was at his locket grabbing the books that he needed for his next class._

_"Gray!" He knew that voice so well. With a smile, he turned towards the direction the voice was coming from._

_"Hey Erza," he responded as she stopped by him, "what's up?"_

_"Great news! I heard back from the college I wanted to attend and I got accepted!" Her smile was beaming._

_"That's great!" He was happy for her, "just think, I'll still get to see you every day."_

_Her smile quickly disappeared upon hearing his words._

_"What?"_

_"Actually, we need to talk about that."_

_"What? Talk about what? I don't understand."_

_"I... I'm not going to Magnolia University."_

_"Come again?"_

_She paused and gulped before she responded, "I looked into it but the school I'm going to be attending in the fall will help me better my education and all around help me with my chosen major."_

_"I don't seem to follow you."_

_"I picked a better University for me Gray."_

_"What school Erza?"_

_"But I'll still get to-"_

_"What SCHOOL Erza?"_

_She was silent as she looked down at her feet._

_"Well?" He asked with a cold tone._

_"The University of Fiore..." she mumbled._

_"What?"_

_"The University of Fiore okay?!" She was practically yelling._

_"That's in Crocus Erza. When the hell will I get to actually see you?!"_

_"On my breaks. And maybe every other weekend we can meet hal-"_

_"With what car? Lyon and I no longer have a car anymore remember?"_

_"Taxi?"_

_"Erza," he glared._

_"Gray I'm sorry but I really want to go there."_

_"Fine, you do that. Just don't expect to see me then," he slammed his locker shut and began walking towards his next class. _

* * *

"Gray?" Erza placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I was just thinking," he brushed her hand away, "I was furious Erza."

"I know..."

"You meant so much to me, I loved you Erza. When you did that it felt like you had ripped my heart out of my chest and stepped on it."

"I'm sorry Gray..." she looked down, "now please tell me. Would you have ended our relationship?"

He turned to face her, "yes I would have. That hurt me more than you'll probably ever know. I was planning on doing so after the holiday. That's why I avoided you because I was trying to figure out how I was going to, and when I was going to."

"I..."

"You have Jellal now Erza whereas I have no one.:

"Gr-"

"I don't matter to you anymore Erza."

"If you were still alive would you be with Juvia had you met her?"

He seemed taken aback by her sudden question, "what was that?"

"You heard me Gray. If you had met Juvia and you would have never died would you be with her right now?"

"I don't know Erza. Where did that question even come from anyway?"

"Please watch over her Gray."

He raised a brow, "wha-?"

Erza smiled, "I'm glad I got to see you one last time Gray. I missed you a lot," she then left the attic leaving him standing there trying to figure out what Erza meant by what she said.

"Yeah," he grunted, "same here my Titania."

* * *

**Author's note**: Sorry about the Grayza but I wanted to make it happen. Nothing too major but since they use to be a couple in this story I had to include it in here at some point. Anyway, the story will progress more in the next chapter. Leave your reviews and I'll be back next week.


	14. Chapter 14

Juvia had made everyone a warm breakfast that consisted of sausage, eggs, pancakes, bacon, toast and homemade juice.

"Thank you again Juvia," Jellal said as he finished the last of his bacon.

"It was no trouble Jellal-kun," Juvia smiled at him.

"Going to visit _her_ today?" Erza asked, not saying who '_her'_ was since everybody already knew.

He nodded, "yeah."

"Scared?"

"Little bit actually."

Juvia grabbed the plates and walked to the sink, "Juvia is going to miss having Gray-sama around."

Erza smiled softly, "he'll always be in your heart Juvia."

"Yes, Juvia knows."

"Anyway, I'm going to head out. Have fun with your plans," Jellal kissed Erza's cheek before exiting the house.

"Is Jellal-kun going to wear his P.J.'s to visit with her?" Juvia was totally puzzled.

"I... I actually don't know," Erza laughed.

The girls smiled at one another as they began planning their day. From a distance, Gray watched, "I sure am going to miss Juvia deeply."

* * *

Jellal had gone home, changed and was now on his way to meet with Ultear. He gulped when he pulled into her apartment's parking lot. He quickly sent Erza a text that informed her that he was there. After the message was sent, he readied his phone to record the conversation that was about to take place. He exited his car quickly and practically ran into the apartment. He rang the buzzer and then waited patiently.

_"Yes?"_ That was her voice.

"Got a minute?" He responded.

_"Hold on Jellal."_

She opened the door for him and he walked inside and up the steps to _her_ door. As he was about to knock, Meredy answered, "Jelly!" The pink haired young girl hugged him tightly.

"Oof," he smiled as he placed a hand on her back, "where's Ultear?"

"Making food, come on in," she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, gently kicking the door shut.

"What a nice little surprise," Ultear smiled, "hungry?"

"Nah," he responded, "bought myself a sandwich on my way over."

She rolled her eyes, "then what exactly brings you by?"

"To talk," he narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.

"Meredy, go eat in your room. Jellal and I need to have a word, privately."

"Okay," the girl said with a mouthful of waffle as she grabbed her plate and walked to her room, shutting the door behind her.

"What?" Ultear crossed her arms.

"Be honest with me for a second," he mirrored her by crossing his own arms.

"Okay...?"

"Don't you regret your past Ultear?" He raised a brow at her, watching as her expression became a confused one.

"What do you-"

"Killing Gray and Lyon, that's what I mean! Doesn't it bother you? I mean seriously, how can you live with that feeling of guilt hanging over your head?"

She was speechless, "what exactly brought _that_ up?"

"I've been thinking about it lately. Ever since I saw you at the ice festival and your charming late night phone call. Knowing it was you and watching you shoot Gray... that's just bothered me... so I've been wondering how that just doesn't bother you."

"They took my mother away from me Jellal!"

"Again with the mother thing? Ultear, they didn't kill your mother! A drunk driver that drove into them head on killed your mother."

"No Jellal, they took her from me!"

"Ulte-" his phone went off so he grabbed it from his pocket, "oh."

"What?"

"Erza's car broke down so I need to go pick her up and take her to work. Later Ultear."

"Yeah, yeah. Later."

He left the apartment and stopped recording, "perfect," he said softly to himself. Quickly, he dialed Erza's number once he was in the safety of his car.

"You get it?" Erza's voice was soft.

"Yeah, yeah I got it," he responded with a smile on his face.

"She didn't suspect anything right?"

"Not a thing. I'll meet you both at the police station."

"Sounds good to me, we'll see you soon."

He hung up and placed the phone in his jacket pocket, "lets just hope that this works." He drove off to his next destination, the Magnolia Police Station.

* * *

**Author's note**: Gah! Sorry about this chapter being so short but it covered enough information I feel... well at least in my eyes anyway. So... Ultear said it! She admitted to it! And to make matters better Jellal even got a voice recording of it, that sneaky bastard. So anyway, what'd you all think? Leave your reviews and I'll update the next chapter next week.


	15. Chapter 15

They had arrived at the Police Station at exactly the same time. Jellal held his phone tightly in his hand as Erza opened the door and the three walked inside. Three officers who were talking amongst themselves before the three walked in, looked at the trio. One smiled, "Erza Scarlet," spoke the man with glasses.

"Hello Lahar," she responded back to him.

"How's your grandfather?"

"He's better than he has been in a very long time."

Lahar smiled, "well that's good but what brings you three here today?"

Erza looked over at Jellal, and then over to Juvia, and then finally back to Lahar, "do you remember when Gray Fullbuster and Lyon Vastia were shot?"

He nodded, "yes I do Erza but we dropped that investigation after we found no suspect. May I ask you what brings up this subject Ms. Scarlet?"

Erza looked back at Jellal, "sir, we have proof of who did it. If we could play this recording then-"

"Ms. Scarlet, the investigation was dropped."

Jellal, knowing that this might end up being a lost cause, played a bit of the recording, ""...you_ shoot Gray... that's just bothered me... so I've been wondering how that just doesn't bother you." "They took my mot-""_

"Stop your tape and follow me. I'll listen to what the three of you have to say," Lahar opened a door that led to the back of the police station where they usually interrogated suspects and held those they brought in.

"But sir we dropped-" an officer with a scar on the side of his face spoke.

"I'm aware of that Doranbolt but they went through all of this trouble then the least I can do is listen to what they have to tell me."

The followed Lahar into a room that was quite small with a large window, an interrogation room, "please sit," he spoke as he sat down.

The three sat and Jellal placed his phone on the table in front of him.

"Explain that recording to me."

Jellal nodded and began explaining everything, the whole story from eleven years ago. He included every detail, making sure that nothing was forgotten. Erza and Juvia were both fighting back the tears they had swelling in their eyes. Once Jellal was finished, he looked back down at the table and his phone.

"Why didn't you report that to the police immediately?" Lahar asked with a puzzled voice.

"I was a scared teenager sir. She was my roommate at the time so if I wouldn't of ran home with her after she finished her terrible deed she would of asked where I went. Truthfully sir, I'm a horrible liar so she would of been able to see right through me."

"I see. May I hear what you recorded with her from the beginning?"

Jellal nodded and played the conversation he recorded from the beginning after backing it up some. Lahar, and the girls, listened carefully to everything that was being said.

"Pause that really quick," Lahar spoke. Jellal listened and hit the pause symbol on his phone's screen, "who is Meredy?"

"She's Ultear's adopted daughter," Jellal explained.

"I see. Please keep playing your recording."

Jellal nodded and continued playing the recording. Once it was finished, Lahar stood, "please tell me, where does Ms. Ultear live?"

Jellal told him without any hesitation.

"Will you lead me there?"

"Uh... sure," Jellal didn't want to say no to the chief of police. The trio who were seated stood and then the four of them exited the small room.

"We have the culprit Doranbolt," Lahar explained. The officer that he was referring to followed the group. Lahar and the officer got into a police car while everyone else got into the car that they had arrived in. Nervously, Jellal lead the way. He was scared out of his mind, his palms were sweating, and his hands were trembling but this was the right thing to do and it had already been done.

* * *

They reached the apartment. Everyone then proceeded to exit the car they arrived in, minus Jellal. Erza was pulled aside by Lahar and Doranbolt. Juvia looked at Jellal as he sat still in his car and fiddled around with his phone.

"Ready to go?" Erza asked as she walked over to Juvia, messing around with her coat.

"Oh, yes," Juvia looked away from Jellal for a moment, "why're you messing with your coat?"

"The police gave me a wire to wear. Once we get Ultear to confess then they're going to barge in and arrest her for the murder of Gray and Lyon."

"Is Jellal-kun coming with us?" Juvia pointed to him sitting in his car.

"I'm actually not sure," Erza responded and walked over to his car, "Jellal," she tapped on the driver's side window. He looked at her, "come on."

He shook his head, "I can't."

"You can't? What can't you do?"

"Look just go inside."

Erza sighed and looked back at Juvia, "you ready to head inside?"

"Yes."

Erza looked over her shoulder and the chief of police and the officer sitting in the squad car. They nodded at her and she nodded back at them, "then let's get going."

Erza and Juvia both walked into the apartment building where the guilty woman lived. The only reason Erza knew which apartment she lived in was because of the occasional visit with Jellal. With shaky hands, she opened the door, then proceeded to ring the buzzer.

_"Yes?"_ That was Meredy, her bubbly voice was one that Erza knew well.

"It's Erza," the redhead responded.

_"Okay, hold on."_

Erza looked over at Juvia and Juvia looked back at Erza, "do you think they suspect something Erza-san?"

"Doubtful," Erza responded, "unless Jellal's conversation made them think something funny was going on, but I doubt that."

_"Erza, Jelly isn't here,"_ Meredy spoke again.

"I want to speak with Ultear."

_"Oh, one more sec then."_

Erza looked back at Juvia, "are you sure Erza-san?"

_"Yes?"_ That was Ultear, for Erza knew her voice anywhere.

"I want to speak with you," Erza sounded a tad angry.

_"Okay, come on up,"_ Ultear buzzed them in and the door unlocked. The two entered the building and Erza walked up the steps to Ultear's apartment.

"Well now, this is a nice surprise," Ultear smiled as she greeted Erza and Juvia at her door, "who's this?" She was referring to Juvia.

"This is my friend Juvia," Erza smiled happily.

"Hello," Juvia offered a smile

"Come on in," she stepped out of the doorframe and allowed the two of them to walk in. The entered the apartment and Ultear shut the door behind them, "what brings you by Erza? Jellal said your car broke down on your way to work. He left to go get you," she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I'm on a small break right now and I had Juvia bring me by. I wanted to ask you something and I'm only going to ask it one time," Erza was getting straight to the point.

"Okay, I'm listening," Ultear walked over to the couch to join Meredy. Erza and Juvia both followed swiftly behind.

"Did you or did you not kill Gray and Lyon?""

"What?"

"I'm not repeating myself, answer my question."

"What did Jellal tell you?"

"I never mentioned anything about Jellal, Ultear."

"Well he's dead."

"What?"

"I told him that if he told a single soul a god damn word to anyone about that night that I would kill him!"

"What're you talking about Ul?" Meredy asked.

"Stay out of this Meredy!"

The girl froze and had tears in her eyes. She didn't know what there was for her to do or what there was for her to say so she simply remained silent and allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks.

"So you admit that you killed them?" Erza asked bluntly as she crossed her arms.

"You want the truth Scarlet? Well then fine, I'll tell you the truth! Yes, I killed my brothers, but do you know why I did it? It was because the two of them stole my bother away from me!"

Erza grinned.

"I had everything any kid in the world could wish for and then the two of them showed up! They ruined everything for me and th- why're you grinning?"

"You just told me everything that I wanted to hear."

"What?"

And within an instant without any warning, Ultear's apartment door busted open. There stood two police officers, "nobody move!" Doranbolt spoke out.

"Scarlet!" Ultear yelled loudly, "what have you done?!"

"I did what I had to do and so did Jellal," Erza responded back with a calm and collected tone of voice.

"Ms. Ultear, you have just confessed to murdering Gray Fullbuster and Lyon Vastia. I hear by place you under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?" Doranbolt told her her Miranda Rights as he handcuffed her hands behind her back as she put up a struggle.

"This is insane! What proof do you people have?!" She bellowed.

"Mr. Fernandes provided a recording from earlier in the day, as described by him. He also informed us of a story and the way he described the crime scene after the two boys were shot was spot on."

"Oh, and I was also wearing a wire," Erza responded as she unhooked the wire from her jacket and grinned deviously.

"When I get out Scarlet you better believe that you and Fernandes are both dead! Do you hear me Scarlet!? Dead!" She fussed and yelled as Doranbolt escorted her out of the apartment.

Juvia looked over at Meredy who was still completely frozen with tears rolling down her face.

"Are you okay Meredy?" Erza asked as she approached the girl sitting on the couch.

The pinkette nodded, "oh yes, I'll be fine Erza."

"Excuse me," Lahar spoke. The girls turned to face him, "will you be alright here all by yourself miss?"

"I should be," she looked at both Erza and Juvia, "if I need any help I'm sure that my friends here will be more than willing to help me out."

"Friends?" Juvia asked. She didn't even know this girl so being called a friend was a shocker.

Meredy nodded, "mm. You know Erza-chan and Jelly so I know you're a nice person."

Juvia simply smiled.

"LAHAR!" Doranbolt yelled from downstairs. The group in the apartment ran down the steps to see what the problem was. Ultear was pinned face down on the ground and Doranbolt was holding her down with all the force he had, "I need some help with her."

Lahar ran over to him and together the two men got the woman to her feet and escorted her out of the building. No matter how much she fussed or struggled, she wasn't going to break free from their grip this time. When they got outside, she saw Jellal in his car and threw herself onto the driver side door, "you sneaky son of a bitch! You set me up! I promise you this Jellal Fernandes, you and your little girlfriend will be the first two I come after once I'm free, do you hear me?! You'll rue the day you messed wi-!" The police managed to drag her off before she could finish. Jellal watched as they put her in the back of the police car with a horrified looked on his face. He was shaking from fear on the outside, but on the inside he felt proud, _you're welcome guys..._

* * *

**Author's note:** Well, Ultear has finally been arrested. Now unfortunately the next chapter will be the last chapter of this fanfiction but just so everyone knows, I've decided that I am in fact going to be writing a prequel to this story, amongst many others to come in the future. Please review and I'll see you all again next week.


	16. Chapter 16

Juvia returned home after her eventful morning, instantly running around her house and looking everywhere for Gray, "Gray-sama!" She yelled, "Gray-sama!"

"Over here," his husky voice rang out from behind her. She turned and saw him sitting on the couch. His color was faded, he truly looked like a ghost now.

"Gray-sama," her voice was quiet.

"I can move on peacefully now Juvia, and Lyon too. If was all because of you that-"

"No! Gray-sama you mustn't leave Juvia," she went to hug him but she phased right through him, something that has never happened before.

"I'm sorry Juvia, but I have to. I just wanted to make sure I saw you one last time before I left this world and moved on to the next."

"Gray-sama," she couldn't help the fact that she was crying.

"Shh. It's okay Juvia. I'm never going to really be gone," he gave a weak smile, "I'll always be in your thoughts and," he hovered a hand over her heart, "I'll always be in here."

More tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want him to leave her.

"You'll see me again one day Juvia, and I'll be looking forward to that day. I'll always be watching over you Juvia. Thank you so much for everything that you've done for Lyon and I, I sure do appreciate it."

Slowly more and more tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched Gray vanish until he was no longer there. Although she knew that this day was going to be coming her way at some point in time she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to accept the fact that it was going to happen, and she wasn't ready to accept the fact that he had just left her, "Gray-sama..." she said softly through her tears. She leaned back against the wall and slid down, holding her knees up to her chest and cried, why was saying goodbye so hard just now? She stayed right where she was for hours on end, simply crying and not wanting to think she was awake._ Maybe this is all a dream... yes, that's right. Juvia is asleep and she's having a dream... a very depressing dream... _

* * *

**Author's note**: Short chapter but this really didn't have a whole lot to cover so I apologize. I didn't want the ending to be too over the top but I did want it to be touching and sad. I really do hope that you all enjoyed the story. Make sure you all keep your eyes peeled for the release of the prequel and many more stories to come from me. Also, there's a little surprise I'm going to give you guys since all your reviews have warmed my heart deeply. Instead of having you all wait until next week to receive this special surprise I'll give it to you tomorrow. Love you all very much and I'll see you all again tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 17

**SEVEN MONTHS LATER**

Juvia had just seen Meredy off to school, for the girl had now moved in with her since the apartment had become a lot to handle and the two had taken a liking to one another. She was now seated on her porch sipping some of her homemade lemonade. Autumn was her favorite time of year, all the kids were going back to school and all of the leaves were turning all the beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow. She watched as the wind blew the leaves around from a pile that was on the curb in front of her house. Suddenly, the quiet serenity was disturbed by a car horn. She blinked, removing herself from her thoughts and looked over in her driveway only to see Gajeel getting out of his car.

"Hey Gajeel-kun," she smiled and waved to him.

"Busy?" He responded with his typical smile.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well the shrimp is busy working and she told me to go to this festival in the park. I'm sure as hell not gonna go by myself so I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me?"

Her face lit up with a smile, "sure Gajeel-kun! That sounds like a lot of fun. Come on inside, you can wait for Juvia to get ready there."

The two walked inside the house and Gajeel looked around. He hadn't been there before but he grinned slightly, _typical Juvia_. He proceeded to walk over to the mantle and look at all the pictures she had placed there, some of her and him, some of her and her friends, all sorts of pictures really.

"Make yourself comfortable Gajeel-kun and please help yourself to some lemonade in the fridge. Juvia will be right back."

Gajeel nodded and Juvia walked up the step. She sighed and smiled sadly as she walked past the door that led her up to the attic, a place she hadn't been since Gray had left her. As she continued to walk past, she suddenly heard something, something that sounded like a thud coming from up there. She froze, "no Juvia, Gray-sama isn't here anymore. You're hearing things," she told herself.

"You're hearing things huh?" That voice sounded so familiar to her.

She turned slowly, thinking she truly was hearing things now. It was when she was face to face with the owner of the voice that she realized that wasn't the case, "Gr- Gray-sama?" Her voice was soft as she studied him to make sure he was really there. He wasn't a ghostly figure, he looked exactly like he did when the two had met, his color had returned to him.

He grinned and nodded, "miss me?"

She ran towards him, hugging him tightly. The bluenette nuzzled her head into his chest and she felt him warm his arms around her and hold her closer to him. Tears began rolling down her cheeks, she couldn't contain any of her joy, "why...? how...?" She tried to form proper questions but she just couldn't. She was just far too happy to finally get to see him again after so long without him.

"I missed you more than you'll ever know so I figured I should just come back to a place I call home. Those seven months without you were awful so-"

She placed her index finger over his lips, "Juvia gets the idea." She then stood up on her tiptoes and now instead of her finger on his lips, her lips were now placed on his, "welcome home."

"It's good to be home."

* * *

**Author's note: **Well, this was your surprise, an epilogue! I hope you all enjoyed this story. Make sure you all look for the prequel and many more stories to come! All of your reviews have warmed my heart and they always made me smile. Love you all so much.


	18. UPDATE

Hey there everyone! Exciting news! So today I finally uploaded the Prequel to This story! It's called _Gone Too Soon_ and so I wanted to inform you all of this and give you the link so you know where to go. I hope you all enjoy!

/s/9545652/1/Gone-Too-Soon


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